Planet E561
by KE12
Summary: After Teor's shuttle crash lands on a pre-relay, hostile alien world, she is forced to befriend a native and attempt to find a way back home. Mainly other characters with some known faces making an appearance. Bioware owns all!
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys, thanks for clicking on this story, it's been a while since I've written anything that isn't a technical report so this story is going to be a little rusty to say the least. Anyway enough of my blabbering.

**Some back ground on the story (What it is and what it isn't).**

I'm trying to keep the story in the same ME universe we all know and love, but due to the time its set (Prior to ME1 by a good few years) I have had to take some creative decisions about the universe.

It will mostly feature 'other characters' as pretty much for the time its set no one from the games is about, however it will feature the appearances of characters such as Matriach Benezzia and Athetya, bonus marks to anyone who can spot the names of any other actual ME characters (There is a few).

Rated K+ as later chapters occasionally feature some violence, it isn't much but I don't want to get on the bad side of the moderators...

The story is more of an adventure than anything else, but it has certain themes like romance and action make appearances throughout.

I'm gunna try and push a chapter out once a week, but that is entirely work dependent... my life can get Buck Cherry crazy full of work and stuff.

**This story is still being worked on! **

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><p><strong>Update: 237/14 **

Hey, I've started to re-upload the earlier chapters of this story with improved grammar and what not, my plan is to update a chapter with every new one released, so later today (or tomorrow at the latest) ch17 will be live. Yes, I know its still going to be a bit rough in places, but hopefully with continued updates I can get them into good shape!

Thanks for clicking on this story again!

**Update: 4/9/14**

Right, done another set of updates, I've broke down a large wall of text, fixed some sentences so they are easier to read (Read that as 'make sense'.) corrected some spellings that slipped two sets of previous proof-reads, and made some general touch ups.

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><p>Teor awoke and sat up immediately as soon she could make a conscious thought, however once her upper body was vertical she immediately regretted her decision as a throbbing headache made its presence known, and an unrelenting searing pain snaked its way across her upper body, the two different pains combined sent her crashing back down onto the bed that she awoke upon. When her headache subsided a little a few seconds later she attempted to search her memories in an effort to remember how she got into the situation that she was currently in.<p>

As she searched her memories her face slowly started to drain of what little colour it had, she could remember a burning shuttle falling to some planet, a few more seconds of searching allowed Teor to recognise the planet as the one she was currently studying for her degree, and that's when the true horror of her situation hit her. She had crash landed on E561. In horror of her situation Teor's brain searched out for something to cling to, and the bed was her brains handle because if she truly landed on that planet she would not be on a bed, but a research cell or worse right? Maybe it was all a bad dream and she only had a hell of a night out, hopefully.

As she searched her memories a little more she became ignorant of her surroundings, and more importantly an animal that was approaching her bedside at a high velocity, by the time she eventually realised she was no longer alone and turned to see what was approaching there was a Varren sized beast jumping up on the bed, out of pure fear Teor froze in her laid down position and could only watch what was about to happen, however she was shocked when it came to a halt by her side, laid down and shut its eyes. After staring at the seemingly tamed beast curled up to her side for a short while she became ever more aware of her surroundings and eventually her brain connected the dots enough to recognise the thing that was curled upto her, this caused the girl to nearly vomit, the beast was an E561 animal, and something the natives kept as pets.

Over 5 minutes passed before she built up the courage to move, retracting her arms from their tensed position at her sides she gently pushed herself up, with each cm her body raised from the bed her aches and pains only seemed to grow. When she came to a halt with her back against the head rest of the bed she was nearly ready to cry from the pain however right now was not the time to be weak. After a short break to catch her breath she turned her body slightly and attempted to take her legs with it, but as she did so the beast next to her opened its eyes and stood back up causing Teor to freeze again, however this time she shut her eyes as it approached her face. As it got closer the scent of its foul breath got stronger, and stronger, if she had to describe it she would say it smelt of rotten meat, as her heart rate raised to a level she thought was impossible to reach she felt a warm, soft, and wet thing trail its way across her face at an agonisingly slow speed, this was it, the beast is tasting her for consumption, and she was sure of it. After a few more licks of her skin the animal jumped off the bed and onto the floor while taking a pillow with it, and then made an incredibly quick exit through a hole in the door that Teor could only presume led to the rest of the building she was in.

Following a few deep breaths to calm her heightened nerves Teor gingerly sat at the edge of the bed, this was when she became aware of a large bandage wrapped around her leg, and the burning pain that was simmering beneath it. Attempting to ignore the pain the best she could, Teor stepped off of the bed and progressed to look around the room a little more, in the corner next to her bed she found a uniform folded up on a chair, from the fact that it had text she could read written down the sleeve she assumed it must have been what she was wearing before the person who's building she was in took her in. Looking around a little more Teor found a sink with flowing water, after taking a quick sniff of the water she cupped her hands and collected some before greedily drinking the substance, when she had satisfied her thirst she cupped her hand once more and rubbed her face with the cold water.

Once she felt slightly refreshed Teor started to explore the room a little more, it did not take her very long to find a mirror laying upside down on a bedside table, as she re-inverted it she was forced to drop the mirror and run to the sink too empty her guts. Raising a shaking hand once she had the capacity to do so she reluctantly felt her upper left cress, the mirror was true to its word, and she had indeed lost over an inch and a half of her upper left crest. After shuddering at the thought of missing a cress Teor quickly pulled her clothes on, and then opened the door to reveal the rest of the building, with some quick exploring it didn't take her long to find the front door, and when she opened it what she found on the outside chilled her to the bone quite literally, as outside there was a heavy blizzard, the snow on the floor was already at least a foot deep, and from the looks of things it was going to double in height before the storm was ready to subside.

As she studied E561 for her degree Teor knew that even the natives could not survive for long with out specialist equipment in this storm, so as she was an Asari from a lush warm world she would be doomed if she ventured out into the unknown, she had to choose, face the storm or the native, face certain death or face the native who had given her the chance to escape by not locking the front door. While Teor's brain ran though her current situation she made a snap decision, whoever took her in had tended to her wounds and give her the ability to escape, so the likely hood is they aren't wanting to cause her harm. After another deep breath Teor slowly closed the door and turned around, as she was going to stay in the building she made yet another snap decision and decided to investigate the building in a effort to know her surroundings a little better. The first room she investigated was the room connected to the front door, it was small and what could be described as a cosy room, there was a log fire quietly crackling away in the corner of the room, a surprisingly large and soft sofa along the far side of the room and a large black thin rectangle based cuboid object situated opposite the sofa, other than these objects there was nothing of much more interest in the room.

Moving on Teor came across what she could only assume was a kitchen, there was a sink, pots, knives, some large white thing that was filled to the brim with food that as of right now did not look very appealing, and plates next to some strange 3 pronged sticks, the only other room on the ground floor was what she guessed was the toilet. Venturing back upstairs she went into the first room she came across and immediately regretted her decision to explore that room as the second she opened the door and walked in she came across the varren sized animal on top of another bed tearing the pillow it stole apart with extreme determination, when the animal realised it was no longer alone it looked directly at her and then seemed to Teor to up its efforts, shuddering Teor quickly left the room. The next room she entered was relatively small, dusty, and cold to the point Teor had a feeling it was very rarely used or ventured into, taking a few steps into the room she came across some small pictures, on them there were images of soldiers of some sorts, and by looking across the photos available she guessed that the one who took her in was a female probably in the low 100s. The next item she picked up was a strange purple piece of material connected to some decorative metal, as it was in a protective box Teor assumed it was of some importance to the owner and gently placed it back. The only other thing in the room was a large metal cupboard on the wall however it was securely locked and without the key she couldn't open it without permanently damaging the case. Just as Teor left the room she heard the front door open and then soon after a cold gust of wind make its way past her, Teor felt a large lump rise in her throat as she debated about what to do, but before she could make a decision she heard the native approach and make it's way up the stairs.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey, thanks for getting to chapter two! Okay guys I'm not even going to deny it, I struggled to write this for reasons that may become obvious, but I've given it my best shot so hope you enjoy it.

**Update: 4/9/14. (I know, along time from my weekly update ha, but stuff happened.)**

**Right, updated this chapter with one or two things, mostly the usage of commas and a few other niggling problems, so stuff makes more sense.**

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><p>3 weeks earlier.<p>

Teor sat twiddling her thumbs as she awaited for her supervisor to meet her at the air lock of the observatory station, she twiddled her thumbs out of pure nerves and impatience, she had fought long and hard for this position over the last five years of her life, and she was not going to mess everything up right now by making a fool out of herself. In her own nervousness she failed to notice her supervisor approach her side, when the elder Asari said her name she literally jumped off her seat in one act and bowed her head in an act of respect. Once the supervisor returned the gesture she got down to buisness. "Mrs Am'Ber its a pleasure to meet once again."

Teor heard the words but couldn't think as quickly as she could speak. "No, ye... I mean the pleasure is all mine."

The far older supervisor smiled at the young student shaking before her. "Teor, do you mind if I call you that?"

Teor quickly blinked her eyes once before speaking again. "Yes, I mean no, go ahead."

This caused the older Asari to smile again as she remembered her own days as a nervous student starting a new job. "Great, then call me Charm." Charm looked at her omni tool incredibly briefly before looking back at Teor. "You have arrived a good half hour early, so we have half an hour to kill. Now we could jump straight in to the deep, or we could go to the cafeteria, talk about something of great interest right now on E561 and possibly try something called hot cocalat, I'm sure you will love it, in fact nearly every one on the station has a sweet tooth for it."

Teors eyes moved around as if she was looking for an answer in her mind, in truth she was trying to work out if this was one last test to check her desire to actually work. After a small while Teor spoke rather quietly "Sounds good." Charm laughed slightly at the nervous heap infront of her before guiding her to the cafeteria.

/../

"So the war is ending?"

Charm blinked as she finished the last of the hot cocalat in her cup, when she finished she wiped her mouth with a hanky chief before speaking. "Yes, this war is virtually over, there hasn't been a single hostile act in 36 hours now. But the beautiful thing is this war was very similar to the War of Unification our people suffered 2 and a half millennium back, what follows next could be... well... look at what the WOU did for us."

Teor blinked once more before looking down at the mug in her hands. "Can I ask, why have I never heard of this stuff before?"

Charm laughed again as she thruster a triumphant fist in the air. "Knew it! nobody has not wanted another cup after they try it, now to answer your question, taking items for non research purposes off E561 is strictly prohibited, and what you just did was purely research, understood?"

If Charm ever saw a face of shock, the one looking at her right now was a fine definition of it. "This stuff's from...?"

"Yep."

/.../

Present.

Before the native reached an eye level where she could see Teor the beast in the first bedroom shot out of the hole at the bottom of the door and ran down the stairs, what followed next would have been comical to the Asari if she was not in her current situation.

Once the animal past over the top of the stairs there was a very short break before a heavy thump was heard followed very swiftly by a loud groan, next the native seemed to walk back down the stairs a little quicker than it went up the stairs, when it was at the bottom Teor heard the native speak for the first time. "Oi ya little bugger, give it back!" After a short time of silence there was another loud thump and some loud snarling sounds made. Teor didn't know what to do, whether to go down and confront the native or to retreat to the room that she awoken in. Would the Native be angry she had looked around the house, would it threaten her, would it set the thing against her, would she be met with open arms, she simply did not know.

After a few deep breaths she slowly made her way down the stairs and followed the snarling and heavy breathing noises until she found her self in the main living area, what she found was far from what she was expecting, the Native was on the ground wrestling the beast for the pillow it stole from her bed, the wrestling between the two was so intense that the native didn't know she was in the room with her until she stepped upon what seemed to be the only floorboard in the entire house to creek. When the Native turned to face the new noise, Teor could see the colour drain from its face, and other than the snarling released by the beast everything came to a halt. After what seemed like an eternity the native released the beast and slowly stood up, as the Native stood the 4 legged beast took its well fought for prize and leapt on the sofa before continuing its reign of terror upon it.

When the Native was fully stood Teor could only stare, the native was bigger than she imagined and towered over her own frame by a good half foot if not more. It was a further unknown time frame before the native spoke. "Err hey?". Teor could only look helplessly at the Human, she knew nothing of their many language's, after a while of no response the Native spoke again. "Hell who was I kidding thinking you'd understand, Christ your probably as scared as me." Teor only blinked as she attempted to find her voice, she didn't quite know yet what she was going to say, she only wanted to reply to the Native, even if it was in a complete alien language.

When she found her voice she quietly replied with the only Native word she knew. "Cocalat?"

The Native cocked its head before squinting slightly. "Cocalat?"

Teor could only geuss the Native was confused so she progressed as if she was, but she had no idea of what to do other than maybe demonstrate what it was, so cupping her hands again she raised them to her mouth before speaking again. "Cocalat?"

The Native seemed to look as if a light bulb was light in her brain. "Ah! Coca cola?"

Teor assumed that as the word sounded very similar they were on the same wavelength, however Teor now didn't know how to tell the Native it was right, the only gestures she knew were Asari gestures and simply saying 'yes' would be a waste of time. After thinking she give an enthusiastic response. "Coca Cola!"

The native stuck 1 finger up as if signalling a quantity and walked with what looked like a severe limp into the kitchen and returned multiple seconds later with a see-through glass and some dark, black liquid inside, just from looking at it Teor knew it wasn't what she called Cocalat but that didn't mattere, the initial confrontation was made. Teor graciously took the glass handed to her and raised the shaking glass in order to give the content inside a quick sniff, if she had to describe the smell she would of said it smelt a little like a Traditional Asari bonding cake. As she sniffed the drink the Native looked suspiciously at Teor, Teor decided that this was probably because of how she was acting to the liquid that the Native seemed so sure she was after, Teor lowered the bottle without taking a sip and pointed at the bottle. "Coca... cola?"

The Native nodded its head vigorously. "Coca Cola."

Teor squinted slightly and looked back at the bottle, she did not want to spend the next however long trying to get the drink she talked about. Taking a deep breath she looked back at the Native and tried a different approach, with the initial ice between the two broken she felt more and more confident that she was indeed safe. Raising her free hand to her chest Teor spoke once more. "Teor" she then extended a hand out to the native. The native seemed to understand as she also raised a hand to her chest and spoke. "Pebble." then she moved her hands in a way to gesture her entire body. "Human." next she pointed to the floor. "Earth."

Teor knew the name of the Native species and the planet that she was currently on, so guessed that she was saying that she was a human and that they were on Earth, so in order to stay on topic Teor replied with a little information on her self, using the same gestures Pebble had to signify the same things, however instead of pointing to the ground she pointed to the roof. "Asari, Thessia." Pebble nodded before raising a hand to her chin and stroked the under side of her jaw. Just as it looked like Teor was going to speak again both of them were distracted by a large ripping noise, turning around to face the origin of the noise they saw that the beast had successfully ripped the pillow to expose its insides. Pebble noticed out the side of her eye the Asari shudder when she watched the dog and decided that a shudder was a shudder weather you were Alien, Human or whatever else the universe had to offer in sentient form.

Turning around Pebble gestured to the Alien in the room to follow her with entire arm repeatedly going from a horizontal outstretched position to her chest and walking backwards towards the kitchen, taking the hint Teor quickly followed the human without question, when they got into the kitchen, and Teor could no longer see the beast, she wanted to thank the human to no end, however telling the human she was thankful would only be a waste of time. As Teor watched the human walk to a bench and rest some of her body weight on it a small thought occurred to her, during melds thoughts could be shared and understood despite any language barriers, however she then remembered a small unwritten rule all Asari obeyed, and that was never to force a meld on any one no matter how dire the situation. To get this human, who would have no idea what so ever of what she was doing to peacefully accepted meld would be almost impossible. Taking a deep breath she pushed the idea out of her head and attempted to think of something else to do or say. After a while of silence Pebble broke the silence. "Teor, Asari, Thesia." to help the Asari understand she made a gesutre to help her understand what she was talking about.

Teor blinked her eyes before replying with her own gesutres. "Pebble, Human, Earth."

Pebble nodded her head once more, and then pointed to the living room before making some gestures as she spoke. "Russel, Dog, Earth." she then got onto her feet and walked over to the sink before turning on the tap. "Water." turning it off she picked a large pint glass out from a cupboard near the sink. "Glass." She then filled the glass with water. "Glass of water."

Teor slowly approached and tapped the glass that was still in Pebbles hand. "Glahs." She then pointed from above to signify the water. "Water." Then with two hands she guested to the entire thing. "Glahs of water."

Teor expected the human to nod its head again, however she pointed at the cup again and spoke. "Glass" as she spoke she put alot of emphasis on the 'ss' in glass.

Teor guessed she pronounced the word wrong and attempted it again while putting emphasis on the ss. "Glas"

Pebble deemed it was close enough so nodded her head. After putting the glass of water down and gesturing to Teor to take it she went to the fridge and pulled a whole load of food out and placed them on the table in a line, next she pointed to each one as she spoke. "Meat. Salad. Chocolate..."

Pebble was cut off as Teor recognised the text written on the chocolate bar and spoke. "Cocolat!"

Teor squinted at the chocolate before picking it up, half unwrapping it, gesturing chomping on it and handing it to the Asari while speaking again. "Chocolate."

"Shockalate?"

Instead of the usual nodd Pebble shook her head. "Ch, Ch, chocolate."

"Sh.. schhh.. ch... chocolate." After the human nodded enthusiastically Pebble took and give it a quick sniff, sure enough despite it being a solid and not a liquid it smelt like Cocolat. Taking a deep breath she took a large chomp off the bar, as she expected it did indeed taste of cocolat, in fact it tasted a mile or two better than the cocolat drink she was used to. As she ate Pebble went back to the table with food and spoke once she had the Asari's attention again. "Meat. Salad. Milk. Bread. Fruit."

Teor attempted to perform the quick nod the Human had done so many times, when she had done so she was surprised when a quick blink was returned in her direction. After racking her brains and swallowing the chocolate in her mouth she pointed to the glass of water on the table. "Glas of water. Meat. S-Salad. Ch..Chocolate. Mi... Mil... Milk. Bread. Fro..." Before teor could finish the word there was three loud heavy thumps on the door and a loud male could be heard shouting. Teor was no expert on humans yet but she saw the fear that grew in the face of the human female stood before her.

/.../

Hey, One thing before I sign this chapter off. There is something I found when doing research for this chapter that I believe could be of great interest to some of you guys. There is a french guy called Jean-Pierre Dutilleux who went searching for and made contact with a Tribe that had never met a 'modern' human or a white man at that, it was fascinating to watch how the tribe reacted to him and his modern technology (there is a 40 min documentary on YouTube, if your interested I'm sure you could find it by searching for that guys name). I suppose if an alien capable of space travel crash landed and interacted with us today it would be a very similar situation.

Anyhow, Thanks for reading. And sorry if I broke any rules mentioning that guy on this page!


	3. Chapter 3

**Update 4/9/14: ** Okay, I've updated and fixed the usual. Enjoy.

/.../

"...Mayday My vessel is crash..." Unintelligible. "...if anyone hears this, please..." the distress call was muted as white noise started to permanently overcome the voice of the person in distress, leaving the room of three in silence.

"Sitner, why does this require my attention?" The Turian Councillor asking the question was looking rather tired and as this was his last meeting of the day he was more than ready to make a hasty retreat back to his place residence.

The Asari standing before the councillors turned to face the Turian before replying. "Planet E561 is in a level 5 restricted area, council authority is needed before any action is taken."

The Turian lazily pulled a limp hand up from his side to massage his heavy eyes. "Remind me, what is a level 5 restricted area?"

It was the Asari councillor that answered the Turian "A system with a mass relay and a native species that are within 200 years of discovering the Relays." After giving the Turian the answer it wanted the Asari turned back to Sitner "Now my question is Sitner, what was Ni'tam and her team doing landing on this planet in the first place?"

Sitam fiddled with her fingers while she thought about the question, when she was ready to answer she unfolded her fingers. "E561 is the most advanced and arguably the most interesting pre-relay species we know of, we have been studying them for over 22 years now, however because of their current technological status we are in the tedious process of removing any planet side evidence of our observations, Ni'tam and her team were in the process of removing this evidence."

"Alright, you have permission to carry out a rescue." Just as the Turian was about to stand and leave the room Sitam spoke again.

"It's not that simple."

The Turian flapped his mandibles before making himself comfortable again. "How so?"

Sitam unconscious started to fiddle with her fingers again before she spoke. "After encountering engine failure they crash landed no more than 2 miles from a residential area."

The Asari Councillor let out a deep breath as she leaned forward in her chair. "Then we will send an extraction team."

Sitam clenched her fists slightly before speaking again. "Again its not that simple. E561 has just finished a war equal to that of our WOU, if your team were to make any hostile acts it could re-ignite the entire thing. Millions of lives could be lost."

There was a half laugh from the Turian Councillor. "Please, which advanced civilisation has believed whole heartedly in alien stories before first contact?"

"Once more its not that simple."

/.../

There was yet another 3 knocks before the voice could be heard again. "Pebble I know you're in there!" Teor looked once more at the human stood infront of her, she was half shocked when she saw her head bowed facing the floor, just as she was about to speak she remembered that to humans this act probably did not carry the seam meaning as it did to Asari. After another short while the human looked up to the Asari and placed her hand over her own mouth to signify silence, then she swiftly paced two hands vertically facing her. When she was sure the Asari understood she took a deep breath and approached the front door that was located near the stairs, just as she arrived at the front door there was another series of impatient knocks made. "Pebble..."

Pebble released a ragged breath before quickly opening the door. "What!?" Despite Teor being Asari she could hear the venom in her voice as she spoke.

The man in the doorway approached and placed a hand in the door frame before smiling. "Thats a hell of a way to address your C.O"

Pebble scowled under her breath. "Dom, you are no longer my CO and never again will you be my CO, now would you please tell me what you are doing at my door?."

Dom grinned before taking another half step forward. "The team was ordered into this area earlier today, when I found out you were in town I just wanted to... check up on you."

Pebble knew the army would be dispatched to the area once the shuttle was found however she never imagined in this weather it would be discovered so soon or even that her old company was going to be the ones to turn up. "What you here for? The wars over and the front line was 400 miles away."

"You know the rules Pebs, we follow orders and dont ask questions. Something you should know..." Before he finished his sentence he looked down to her left leg. "...with great intimacy." when he finished speaking he quickly placed a finger on his left ear, after a couple of seconds he smiled again and lowered his hand "Well it appears my time has been cut short." After speaking he removed his arm from the door and walked slowly backwards, just before he was off the property he spoke one last time. "I'll be seeing you around." With those words spoke he turned around fully and disappeared into the storm, when Pebble was sure he was gone she closed and then locked the door before retreating back into the living room, when she entered she noticed Russell giving her an extensive look.

Approaching the dog she gently scratched its ears before speaking. "Yeah I know."

/.../

Returning to the Kitchen Pebble found Teor half cowering in the far corner of the room while looking slightly scared, however upon her reappearance she seemed to calm down slightly and re-approach the table with the food on top. "Alrighty where were we?" To this comment the Asari frowned slightly before pointing to the apples on the table. "Froot?"

"Uh yeah." Pebble approached and then picked the apple up. "Uit, Fruit." after speaking she made an eating gestures and then reached out to Teor with the small red apple. Teor understanding the gesture reached out for the fruit, just as she picked the apple up her skin made contact with the humans for the first time and an unexpected exchange of emotions was made. Immediately after the exchange was made Pebble retracted her hand and cradled it before giving the Asari a very curious look, Teor in the meantime dropped the apple and give the human a startled look before her mind made sense of Pebbles emotions, Teor could sense a mixture of great curiosity and fear. After an unknown time of starring at one another Teor gulped before slowly extending her hand once more, the human seemed to hesitate before slowly extending a slightly shaking hand to Teors, the two hands stopped millimetres before they would touch. When Teor saw Pebble make the final movement a few seconds later she also reacted and moved her hand ever so slightly forward and made the final contact again, as she touched the human another wave of emotions was exchanged between the two, after a short time to decipher the emotions Teor decided that Pebbles curiosity and reaction to the short exchange of emotions was appropriate for her to initiate a meld.

The next thing Pebble knew was that she was mentally being dragged into some sort of pitch black place, everything around her was dark, as her fear began to grow exponentially the darkness faded and large beach came into focus. When the beach was in focus she came aware of footsteps behind her, quickly turning around she came face to face with the same Asari from her house. "W-whe- what did you do?"

Teor took in a deep breath of air before speaking. "Right now we are still in your kitchen however mentally you are in my mind."

Pebble took a step back before speaking again. "Wait, now you know English?" After she spoke she noticed a table with two seats form in the corner of her left eye. Before giving a verbal response Teor walked to the table. "Please sit and I will explain all I can." There was a nod from the human before she started to make a slow walk to the table, however after her first full step she looked down to her left knee before raising it and then stretching it, with a newly gained smile on her face she virtually ran to the table and sat down. When she was sited Teor spoke again. "No, your mind is interpreting my thoughts as mine is yours. As you hear me in English I hear you in Galactic."

"Okay, so you don't know English and I'm in your mind?"

Teor nodded. "Yes, when you were curious about our exchange of emotions I decided it was best for me to I bring you in here, if you wish I can end the meld now however if I do so our communications will be primitive at best."

Pebble scratched her head slightly. "No, if we can understand each other and at the end of the day I can go back into my body I am aright being in here, temporarily."

There was a deep sigh of releif from the Asari. "Thank the Goddess. If you don't mind me asking, when you found me were there others?"

"Yeah..." Pebble rubbed her jaw before continuing. "I'm sorry but you were the only survivor, when you crashed I was walking Russell in the woods nearby, thinking a plane went down I went to help the pilot, you can imagine my surprise when I found you stumbling about. After watching you for a short time you collapsed on the floor near the wreckage, deciding it was safe I moved in, you had no detectable pulse, blood pouring out of multiple wounds, and were freezing cold, but you were breathing, so after getting you back to mine I sanitized your wounds the best I could with alcohol, and then nearly two days later you found me fighting my dog."

Pebble could see the Asari fighting back some tears however before her full emotion showed she seemed to suppress it and move on. "I doubt I could have lasted in the cold, so thank you for saving me and tending my wounds."

There was a smile form on the humans face. "No problem."

"I don't want to be a burden, however my species can't survive for long in the weather outside. Would it be possible for me to stay with you till the storm passes?"

Pebble swallowed before answering. "I'm sorry to say this but if you take even one step out my door any time soon your life is going to take a turn for the worse. The military is probably crawling the streets outside, I assume they are only here because of your shuttle. If they found you I could only guess as to what they would do and I doubt it would be in your best interest."

The Asari seemed to pounder this for a short while before speaking again. "Then what do you suggest I do?"

"Bunker down here for a short while. Then when I can I'll move to a more remote location and we can try to come up with a way to get in touch with your people, actually what's the likely hood of your people coming for you?"

Teor sat back slightly. "Not likely, my people will not risk a direct confrontation with your military, and you would do that for me?"

Pebble shrugged at the comment. "Sure."

The Asari eyed the human suspiciously. "Hopefully under your proposed circumstance they will come. But why do this, if we get caught..."

There was yet another shrug from the human. "I have my reasons."

"Then I can't thank you enough."

The human smiled and then released a slight laugh at the Asari's response. "You can thank me by telling your species not to come and invade us."

Unexpectedly for Pebble the Asari released a short laugh also. "You know, not all aliens want to invade Earth. When I was observing your planet we would often watch your films, if it involved aliens 9 out of 10 times it included evil aliens invading. Infact the Council actively protects your planet."

Pebble raised an eyebrow to this comment. "'not all aliens?' Just how many different alien species is there? And what Council?"

/.../

Hey, first of all despite what this chapter seemed to hint at I don't intend for this to become a war story. Anyhow thanks for reading this and a special thanks to those who have favorited / followed / reviewed. You guys are legends!


	4. Chapter 4

**Update: **5/9/14. Right some quick fixes done but more importantly a small continuity error has also been fixed. To people later in the story, the fix covers a very small issue that shouldn't effect your understanding of the story in any way shape or form. **  
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Well chaps, thanks for getting to chapter 4.

/.../

The Asari spectre had her next in command in a head lock on the floor and was slowly losing her grip, however she was determined not to lose the battle. "Come on Gar, Tap!." After a last attempt to break the hold the Turian conceded and tapped his hand on the hard floor beneath him. The spectre secretly allowed herself a small victory smile before releasing her hold on the Turian. Just as she was about to stand back up the ships intercom activated. "Captain, you have Councillor S'Aung on channel 1."

"I'll take it in my office."

There was a short silence before the person behind the intercom spoke again. "The call has been re-routed to your office terminal."

After the voice ended the Asari grabbed a towel that was near by and rubbed the sweat from her face before heading back to her office, when she arrived she flopped into her seat and answered the call. Before speaking she bowed her head. "Councillor S'Aung its a pleasure as always."

The Councillor returned the bow before speaking. "Reale, report to the Council chambers immediately. We are awaiting on your attendance."

Reale blinked once before responding. "ETA 15 minutes."

/.../

The second Realee entered the council chambers she could hear the councillors arguing passionately between one another. "... I will not allow it."

There was a loud growl before a response was made. "Then you are risking an alien species acquiring technology far beyond their comprehension."

"And you would risk making a pre relay species, known for violence, hostile in any future contact." The Salarian responded quicker than one could take a breath.

After a second of silence a fourth unfamiliar voice was heard. "And you all are forgetting the fact that any hostile action could restart a war on a planet with a native species armed to the teeth with nuclear weaponry."

There was another moments pause before the Turian could be heard once again. "And if we do nothing we risk the natives gaining an Element Zero core which is a hundred times more volatile than any nuclear device."

"Then make contact and ask for our people and technology back. They are no more than 50 years at best from discovering the relay, and at the rate they are currently progressing 60 years from utilising the technology."

There was another growl. "We do not make contact with a pre relay species for a Reason Sitam, do I have to remind you of the last uplifted species?" Before any response could be made Reale climbed the final steps and came into view of the Councillors.

/.../

Teor looked down to her hands as she thought about the question, after a while of counting she looked back up to the curious human. "There is 17 known species alike ourselves, however only 8 of them are in our council, the rest are either too hostile, in a unique position which means they can not be in our council, or just downright refused to accept our rules and laws."

Pebble rubbed her chin some more as she thought about the response the alien give her, when she was satisfied her mind had taken in the information she proceeded. "When you say you were observing our planet, what do you mean by observing?"

There was a sigh from the Asari as she thought about the observatory station. "The simplest answer I could give is that we observe you Humans. We want to know what you like to eat, what your favourite films are, anything really that defines Humans."

While continuing to rub the underside of her jaw Pebble asked another question. "Hmm, so what did you find out?"

"I could not say, many things I thought were true I now believe to be false. For example I would of believed you would of handed me straight over to your authorities, yet here I am now in you care."

"So no evil intentions then?"

Teor smiled and shook her head before releasing a slight giggle. "Well, only a few evil schemes to steal some more of that liquid sh shokolate your people make."

Pebble squinted then laughed before speaking. "You mean Hot Chocolate? Hold on, is that the stuff you were asking me for when we first spoke?" The asari released a slight nod. "Ha! The first words spoke to Humanity from an Alien life source was about hot chocolate? HA! It gives a whole new definition to beggar's belief."

"Hey, it was the only human word I knew or could think of at the time! And beggar's belief?"

"Means unbelievable." Pebble continued to laugh occasionally to herself at the thought before speaking once again. "Anyhow if your living with me I'll need to know a few things, such as is there any more freaky stuff like this you can do, is there any requirements you have and what do you eat and drink?"

Teor thought about the question before responding. "Asari don't require that much different to yourselves for survival, however I will need thicker clothes possibly and a cleansing everyday. Food wise Asari are virtually vegetarians, however if this requires extra effort on your behalf I am more than willing to eat what you can provide."

"All right that shouldn't be a problem, unless you cleansing requires some special chemicals or something."

Teor squinted at the human. "simple soap should do and a bath or..." as she spoke the table that they were sat at started to lose its structure, seconds later the table vanished and the two women ended off standing opposite one another. "Oh no. We need to make this quick, soon the meld is going to collapse."

"Sorry, I don't understand."

Teor started to speak quicker and quicker. "My brain is getting tired, like a computer when it is underpowered it starts to make mistakes and then eventually shuts down, I'm sorry but I must end the meld or I will soon pass out."

"All right, end it and when I come through I'll grab you some food and then you can go upstairs and get some rest. Oh one quick thing, am I going to understand you outside of a meld now?"

"No, it doesn't work like that, no time to explain."

/.../

"So Reale, what do you think of the plan? Is it possible?"

Reale was getting sick of the Councillors arguing, when they eventually came up with a plan she was jumping with joy inside. "Its highly complicated and the risks are mind boggling, however I think it's possible."

The Councillors blinked and give slight gestures to one another before the Asari Councillor spoke. "Excellent, we will give you all the resources you and your team require. However before this mission is given the green light you understand there can be no positive identification of your species and direct hostilities are only permitted under endangerment of life or to prevent the spread of positive identification?"

Reale looked around the Councillors before blinking.

/.../

Well guys, thanks for getting to the end of Chap 4 and another special thanks to the followers / favs and reviewer! If you have anything you want to see in the story give me a message or leave a review and I'll do my best to include it!


	5. Chapter 5

When Pebble became aware that she was once again in her own body she gained a very strong urge to eject any content in her stomach, without even looking or making any indication to the alien of what she was doing she hobbled as quickly as she could to the toilet and allowed nature to take its course. When she was sure she was done she rinsed her mouth out and then slowly made her way back to the kitchen, however before she entered the kitchen she ordered Russell upstairs.

After the dog obeyed her commands she entered the kitchen to find the Asari rubbing her eyes while heavily slouched in a chair next to the table. Pebble lightly tapped the Asari on the elbow before gesturing to the girl to follow her, when the Asari understood Pebble lead her to the sofa that the dog had claimed earlier and sat her down, next she picked up a black rectangle shaped object and pointed it at the much larger black rectangle in the opposite corner of the room. The Asari watched with great curiosity despite her tiredness as a picture appeared on the screen, next the human seemed to flick through a few channels till a nature show of some sort appeared, before the human left the room she handed over the remote and demonstrated the volume and channel buttons. When the Asari picked up how to work the television the human retreated back to the kitchen and approached her tin cupboard, after she opened the cupboard door she took a step back and crossed one arm while stroking the underside of her chin with the other. "Vegitarian huh?" After picking a few different tins out and then putting them back she settled on a broth. While the thick liquid started to cook on the hob the human pulled out a baton, cut it in two then quartered it before proceeding to butter half of the sliced bread. When the soup was eventually ready she poured into two bowls and carried it into the room, when she laid her eyes on the Asari she could tell it was knocking on the door of dreams.

When the human had finished her food she looked over to the Asari, the alien had managed to eat about half of what was placed in front of her before her fight for consciousness was lost. After returning the food to the kitchen the Human grabbed the blanket from the bed the Asari woke upon and lightly placed it over her. When she was satisfied the Asari was not awoken the human called to Russell and put it on lead before taking it for a walk, in her military career Pebble knew that intelligence could win a battle, and if they planned on staying alive she needed to know just what type of military presence was currently in her town. Once they returned the Human noticed the Asari was still asleep on the sofa, with a hundred plus thoughts running through her mind she allowed Russell of his lead, as soon as he was free he jumped onto the sofa and snuggled up to the still unconscious Asari, Pebble could only watch and hope the dog wouldn't awaken or try anything against the Asari. When the dog settled down Pebble allowed the breath she had been storing free and slowly approached the dog, when she was in range she grabed the collar and give the animal a slight tug however its stubborn nature came out, after a few tugs Pebble concluded that the fight to remove the dog would more than likely wake the alien, in order to win the battle for the sofa she would have to play the waiting game. So after carefully pulling a foot rest out from behind the sofa Pebble sat down at the opposite side of the sofa and put her feet up.

/.../

Teor slowly clenched her left fist, as she did so she became aware of a soft wire like substance in her hands, without opening her eyes she slowly relaxed her hand and then re clenched. It was a weird feeling to the Asari and the material had a texture unlike anything she had ever felt before. In her dopey post sleep state she decided to explore slightly more and moved her hand around, slowly she became aware that the material was connected to something warm, a little bit more exploration revealed that the material was also connected to something that moved. As the Asari's brain started to awaken a little more the Asari's hear rate started to rise as she thought about the thing that her hand was touching. Allowing her left eye to open very slightly her worst possible fear was confirmed. The Earth beast, it was laying next to her and she was touching the thing, with lightning reflexes the Asari retracted her hand and opened both eyes to take in her surroundings. The Human, Pebble, to her left and at the end of the sofa appeared to be in a deep sleep, herself was under a thick blanket and the dog was half under with her however she could see its head poking out from under the blanket, it too appeared to be asleep. After a while of very conservative movements Teor released a deep breath, if she was going to live with the human she would have to live with the beast also.

After slowly removing the quilt from herself and the dog she extended a shaking hand out and lightly placed her hand on the dogs hind leg, if she wasn't touching an unknown beast she would of allowed herself to be fascinated with the dogs hair. After a while of simply touching the dog she moved her hand up its leg and onto its back, as she felt the dog flinch, then in a moment of pure terror she saw the dog open its eyes. Teor didn't know what to do, would the dog be angry she touched it? Would it taste her again? She simply did not know. What she did not expect to happen however was for Russel to turn its head and simply look at her, after a while of exchanging eye contact the dog slowly got up and approached Teor, as it did so Teors heart rate raised once again and she could feel her biotics starting to surge beneath her skin. While Teor knew her biotics weren't exactly tuned to perfection she knew enough to put the dog in a stasis, just as she was about to stop to dogs approach it fell down onto its stomach and laid its head on her lap while looking up to her with its large eyes.

/.../

Pebbles eyes shot open as she sat forward and rubbed her left knee, after a few tears and what seemed like an eternity of rubbing the burning pain in her leg eventually subsided to a manageable level. Once the pain subsided Pebble took a few deep breaths as she raised her leg ever so slightly and pulled her trouser leg up to reveal her knee, Teor hearing the rubbing and deep breaths poked her head out from around the kitchen door, what she saw made her grimace. Up Pebbles leg there was 2 angry looking scars, one of them was a large round piece of discoloured flesh above her heavily swollen knee, the other was a large line of a scar on the inside of her calf. With great curiosity the Asari watched as the human pulled a box out from under the sofa she was sat on however the Asari had to look away as the human pulled out what looked like a large needle and push it up against a point on her upper leg. As she looked away she saw Russell approach her position, with its eyes firmly fixed on herself, or more accurately the piece or rope in her hands. Raising her hands to stop the beast getting the rope Teor thought the rope would be safe from the beast, however she did not expect the dog to jump up at her and balance on its hind legs as its front paws rested on her upper chest, in shock the Asari fell backwards through the door into the living room.

Pebble looked up in fear as she heard the commotion burst into her living room, fearing that somebody was raiding her house, but the scene that met her eyes put a smile on her face. The Alien was fighting the dog for one of its favourite toys, how the alien had become so friendly with the dog she could only guess at but from how the two were interacting she didn't care. Just as the Asari won the toy back from the dog Pebble was going to look away, however something caught her eye, so much so the Human had to rub her eyes to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. The Asari, it was physically glowing in blue light, and the toy, it was floating in the air surrounded by similar blue light. During her military career she had seen many things that people would only believe if they saw, but this was something else entirely. When the Asari was sure the dog was pre-occupied by a toy she was sure it couldn't reach she turned to apologise to the human in anyway she could think of doing so, however the human was simply looking at her as if it saw an alien. Just as the Asari was about to attempt to start her appologising she felt the drain of her biotics increase tenfold, turning around she was shocked and slightly amused to find the dog hanging off the toy mid-air. As she allowed the toy to slowly drop she approached the human and sat down on the sofa next to her, as she approached the human continued to look at the toy and the dog suspended from it until they reached the ground. When there was no more sign of any biotic activity pebble picked up a TV remote and handed it to Teor before gesturing for her to float the device, Teor taking the hint did as requested and floated it just infront of the human, Pebble watched yet again with her mind blown, to her this was stuff that should belong in movies and books, not reality. Extending a hand she tapped the remote and made it spin in the blue light however to demonstrate her control over the biotics Teor made the remote come to a quick halt and forced it to rotate in a plane 90 degrees to the horizontal. With her mouth wide open catching flies Pebble slowly extended her hand once more to the asari with the palm facing upwards, taking another hint Teor lowered the remote and touched palms with the human.

/

"Matriach Am'ber, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"

Am'ber looked at the younger Asari very carefully, it was not everyday she had a Spectre turn up at her estate. "Please, do come in." The walk to the kitchen was not a short one however the journey there allowed some critical questions to be asked. "So, what business does a Spectre have with myself?"

Reale not wanting to depart with information regarding E561 so readily or in such a situation without sitting down answered with delaying the question mind. "This is not something to discuss while walking, it is best to be sat down."

This reply caused Am'ber to cock a brow as she continued to walk. "I have Matriach T'soni around, will this be an issue?"

"The information I need to inform you of is very sensitive and personnel, however It is not a necessity to talk to you alone."

"Excellent, when we get to the kitchen, would you like anything to eat or drink?"

Reale clenched her fists ever so slightly as she replied. "No Thankyou, I hope for this to be a short meeting."

"Of which you have not specified to topic."

"All in good time Matriach."

/

When they eventually reached the kitchen Reale was unusually grateful for being able to take a seat, while she did not mind walking she did not quite realise how big the Matriarchs estate was. After regaining her composure she looked up to the Matriarchs in front of her, one of which had a young newborn cradled protectively in her arms. "Are you sure you are wanting Matriach T'soni to here, what I have to tell you is very... Disturbing."

Am'ber blinked to T'soni before speaking again. "Benezia and I have been friends for more years than I can remember and she is the wisest person I know."

"Very well, what I am here today for is to talk about your daughter..."

Reale was cut off as Am'ber spoke, fear lacing her voice. "Teor? Is she safe?"

There was a large release of breath before Reale replied. "Are you aware that she is currently on a research mission studying planet E561? And if so are you aware of why she was studying that planet?"

"Yes, she spent many years working for that position."

After Reale blinked she contined. "During a mission to the planets surface Teor's shuttle experienced technical difficulties and crash landed on..."

The Matriach cut her off. "Is she alive?"

Reale stopped momentarily before continuing. "Due to the planets native species we are unable to confirm that, but what I can tell you is that from deciphering the natives communications we know the natives only know about 3 bodies, from the descriptions and images they have used, none of them are Teor." As the news came to light Am'ber started to blink at an unusally high rate as she thought about the situation, in her silence T'soni asked a question. "So why cant we send a team to rescue her? If its a question of resources we can provide anything you need."

"The Native species are like the Turians and have advanced weaponry, not only this but they have the area in lock down and any military action could start a devastating war on the planet." Turning to face Am'ber Reale spoke again. "My Mission from the Council is to track down all the bodies, retrieve them and come home. As Teor is not discovered I am counting on her being alive and hiding. I am here to find out any information that helps me bring Teor back home in one Piece Matriach."

/.../

Well chaps thats another out here on the world wide web. Sorry about the time taken for the update, to cut a long story short I had this beast of a report to write that just wouldn't go away, then due to it taking a while works got back logged and yeah, its been hell. Anyhow work is going to be a little hectic again over the next week or two so sorry again if your after regular updates, but in order to get food on the table one must work.


	6. Chapter 6

Right chaps, I tried incorporating a different technique for starting speech, it only comes up every now and again in this chapter as I was experimenting but hey, if you see any spots where your like huh? its probably my new method failing ha. (Totally my bad)

Anyhow I managed to steel some sneaky time from work to get this one out here... i was sick of looking over schematic diagrams and lines and lines of coding so this was a nice break. Oh and my work should start to die down again soon so hopefully I can dedicate more time to this, but I can't promise how long it will die out for.

Okay then guys, now that's cleared, enjoy.

/.../

Photax looked back up to the Spectre standing in front of him and then back down to the photo before speaking. "Impossible..." after a very short silence he spoke again while rapidly tapping the datapad. "Firstly whats this material? To get it right I would need data..." Reale cut him off by sliding another datapad in front of him, after a short inspection the Salarian spoke once more. "Yes, yes this will do." After scratching his left horn a little he stood up and rounded his table to stand just infront of the Asari. "5 foot 10, 2 grams per centimeter, total 2500 grams required. 6 hours operation, near instant recovery with omni gel. Time for complete manifestation 3-4 days under optimal conditions, material , 1 day synthesis."

Reale blinked to the Salarian before saying. "One last thing, I need to find an Asari."

The Salarian scratched its horn once more as its eyes darted from right to left and then back again. "Crashed element zero core, biotic capabilities not common, close encounter required. Yes, no problem. 2 days part delivery, 1 hour construction. Component price 17K."

Reale clenched her fists.. "How close are we talking."

"Device optimal range 10 meters."

This caused the Asari Spectre to clench her fists for a second time. "Not good enough Photax."

"Secondary contact will be detected, Follow like breadcrumbs."

Reale did her own thinking before she said. "Acceptable, we commence as soon as possible."

The Salarian smiled before walking through a door behind his desk and towards the ships medlab. "Surgery starts now, material requires synthesis."

/-/

Reale woke with a groggy head, as she raised her hands to rub her eyes she nearly had a heart attack however she quickly remembered why she went under the knife. "The council aint paying me enough for this." After speaking she rotated her hand to inspect the Salarians handy work. "This is going to take a long long time to get used to." With a sigh she pushed herself off the bed and got dressed before walking out of the medlab and straight into the canteen, when she emerged into the crowded canteen she saw here crew stop what ever they were doing and simply stare at her. With a roll her of eyes she made her voice heard. "Yes I have pink skin, get used to it!"

/.../

**4 days after shuttle crash**

Teor sat on her bed with her legs crossed, palms facing upwards on her knees, eyes shut and a blue orb floating just infront of her, the human had asked her to stay upstairs until she had called her name, all she knew was that she was going to meet someone to help break down the language barrier. Pebble meanwhile downstairs was in a bit of a mad rush preparing some food. It was another unknown time period to the meditating Asari before she heard a knock at the door and the human caring for her greet some people with a high pitched but cheerful sounding voice, after a short duration of listening Teor concluded that there was another two people in the house, one had a voice similar to Pebble and the other had a deeper ring to it.

/.../

"So, you seemed pretty adamant that we came as soon as possible."

Pebble smiled and nodded at the male sat opposite herself on the kitchen table. "Do I need a reason to see my father once again?"

The old grey haired man released a short laugh before saying. "No, but usually you come down to see us, not the other way round."

"Yeah, I do love the sun, anyway do you have your bricks on you?"

It was the elder woman's turn to laugh at her daughter. "Bricks? Child, you have no idea what a 'brick' is, when I was a child a brick broke the floor, not the other way round."

"Yeah yeah, pass them here and I'll explain." The parents passed Pebble their phones and watched in silence as she removed the batteries from the two devices and hand them back. "You have no idea how much surveillance these things can gather even when turned off, my own unit used phones to collect information more times than I can count."

The old woman sighed before she said. "Okay Pebble, what's this really about?"

"Dad, did you bring your code breaking books along with you?"

The old man squinted at his daughter before crossing his arms and sitting back in his chair. "Yes, I assume you are now going to tell us why you asked me to bring them."

There was a nod from the younger human. "Before I do it, you must know that if the Alliance finds out about what I'm going to tell you, they will hunt you down and you will never see the day of light again."

Pebble's mother released a deep breath through her nose and shook her head. "Pebble, what have you gotten yourself into?"

"I'll explain all in good time, but first what do you know about the military presence here?"

The farther shrugged his shoulders. "Something about routine military exercises, don't believe it though, I've got a funny suspicion that its something else."

Pebble released a deep breath and nodded vigorously. "You could say that. Dad, I know you're going to be fascinated by this but Mother, if you want to know promise not to freak out, I know what you get like with spiders never mind what I'm about to tell and then show you."

The Mother shook her head. "Pebble, before I find out what this is all about, tell me why you are doing what you are doing right now."

Pebble quietly replied. "I once made a promise to the Archers to help someone else out in a similar situation."

The father squinted once more at his daughter. "The wars over, POW's are being released, the person could walk right out the door and straight over no man's land, providing they weren't in a similar shot up state like yourself."

Pebble rested her chin in her hands. "What if its not a human?" To this comment the face of the farther turned white and the mother had a look of deep confusion.

After a very short time the mother spoke. "So is it some sort of codes for something or..."

The father shook his head before finding his tongue. "Is it blue?"

Pebble instantly looked straight up to her father. "How do you know?"

Pebble's father rubbed his highly groomed moustache before he said. "There was some leaked images on the internet a few days ago, but they got suppressed unusually early and called fakes by the Alliance."

"What are you two on about?"

Pebble rubbed the back of her neck before she said. "Mother, I've asked you guys here to help me teach an alien..."

"Pebble, is it here?!" Pebble knew her father would be more than excited at the fact she had an alien living in her spare bedroom, when ever a conspiracy program was on tv about aliens he would tape them then re watch them trying to pick out anything little that he missed in the first viewing.

There was a nod from the younger human before she got up and made a slow hobble to the bottom of the stairs, before she shouted up to Teor she turned back to her parents. "Just... dont freak out kay?"

/.../

After opening her eyes Teors heart skipped a beat till she recognised the soft fluffy beast curled up besides her, with a few very slow actions the Asari managed to push her self off of the bed and stand up with out awakening Russel, when she was stood and looking down to the dog she allowed herself a small smile at the fact that she was so still and calm during meditation the animal could sleep besides her undisturbed. Then with a small sigh she turned towards the bedroom door and made her way down the stairs, as she descended she found herself unusually calm, earlier when she found out she was to meet other humans she nearly vomited but now she was ready for what ever was at the bottom of the stairs.

/.../

Final note,

For the awesome person reviewing, I hope this chapter gives the final clue to the date... if not I believe next chapter should do it for you.

Thanks for reading.


	7. Chapter 7

Right guys, this chapter went under multiple re-writes, and to be honest I'm still not happy with it but Its here. Enjoy

/.../

Teor got to the bottom of the stairs and quickly rounded the corner, when she past Pebble she came face to face with the two unknown humans, the female looking human on the left simply went as white as the snow that blanketed the ground outside and the male on the right released a loud chuckle before he stood from his chair and walked around the table to stand directly in front of the Asari with his hand out and a grin so large on his face one would think it was about to split in two, a short duration later the man cleared his throat and said. "I am Charles Arthur Collins and it is an absolute joy and honour to meet yourself." The Asari looked to Pebble with a very confused looking face, the man had a very long name and she was not going to be able to repeat that any time soon. Pebble give a slight handshake gesture to the alien and then nodded her head towards the elder man, after the nod of reassurance Teor give an enthusiastic pincer shake to the human who delivered an equally enthusiastic shake back, just when Pebble thought the two were going to shake for eternity Arthur returned his hand and then proceeded to place his hands on her shoulders and say. "I have so many questions for you, first of all how many other species are there..."

"Dad."

"... Where have you been all this time..."

"Dad!"

"...How did you break FTL travel?..."

By this point Teor was looking to Pebble with a look of being lost, so to help out her alien friend out Pebble place her own hand on Charles shoulder and talked above his own voice. "Dad! she can't understand you, your simply scarring her." With his daughters comment Charles quickly released the Asari and spoke again.

"Oh, yes. I'm truly sorry"

Pebble released a small sigh, one problem solved, now onto her mother. Turning around to face her mother Pebble found that her mother was looking very briefly between herself and the alien and then her mouth would open slightly as if she was going to say something but before any words were formed she shut her mouth and simply continued looking. After another roll of her eyes Pebble turned to the Asari and said. "Teor..." She then gestured to her mother. "Lynda." When Lynda failed to speak or even make an attempt to respond, verbal or not Pebble spoke again. "Mother! this is Teor."

At hearing her name pronounced sharply by her daughter Lynda shook herself out of her shock, gulped and held her hand out while stuttering. "N-ni-nice to m-meet you." At seeing the human extending her hand towards her Teor looked to Pebble who smiled and nodded. With the humans encouragement the Asari extended her left hand to meet the humans and gripped her hand with the awkward pincer like grip she give Pebbles father and said. "Teor."

The elder human nodded her head and stuttered once more. "L-lynda"

Pebble released a deep breath, sofar so good. When her breath was released she spoke to the entire group. "Right, lets get a seat, i'll explain a few things, then we eat and after we see where the night takes us." Teor recognising the word 'seat' sat down opposite Lynda, preferring her more quite nature to the more boisterous Charles and allowed Pebble to sit opposite her bouncing on the chair father, when they were all sat Teor reached over and placed her hand on Pebble's bare arm, at seeing her fathers curiosity at the action Pebble said. "Currently, this is our only method of communication, she can do some weird skin contact talk thing."

The father stroked his tash. "So?"

"Pretty much, if you talk and she is holding my arm, because i can understand you she can, but she can't reply in English as she hears in Alien speak, just dont ask me how it works because I have no idea." When her father looked satisfied at the response she carried on. "Alright, so now you have been introduced I can say a little more, Teor is an Asari from Thessia, she crash landed here on a research mission and currently as she has no idea how to get home she is staying with me until she can do so. Kapeesh?"

As expected Charles had a question. "But you say you can communicate through it, can you say, ask questions or is it just what you hear she can understand and vise-versa?"

Pebble nodded. "Yes, but that requires a deeper 'meld' as she calls it."

Charles eyes light up with this answer and after a few more strokes of his overly stroked tash he spoke. "Can I try?"

After the question he saw Teors eyes change from human looking to dark black, it was creepy for both the parents to say the least, but after a second or so the colour drained and Pebble replied. "We think for now as we dont know the side effects to humans that we keep it to just myself and Teor." In truth it was Pebble who made the decision, Teor was willing but at the same time did not want to drain her mental resources responding to all the questions the elder human was more than likely to have.

After speaking Pebble's mother spoke. "Pebble honey, I'll check on the food."

While Lynda did so Pebble spoke again to her father. "Right, so what I need you to do is help translate or come up with a way we can do so, so that we can communicate through none meld means."

The father nodded and then picked up a cup of water on the table, pointed to it and said a few random words followed by. "What did I just say?"

Pebble and Teor both frowned at the same time before Teor Spoke. "Cup of Watar."

Charles shook his head and then stared at Teor. "I thought she didn't know english?"

To his comment Pebble replied. "She knows some terms, so some food names, bed, cup of water and some others that are vital for living here."

Charles nodded and then looked back to the cup. "well, I said cold drinkable liquid stored in a white ceramic cup, the problem is with translating a language like this is understanding how they comminicate, for example we would just say a cup of cold water but Teor here, could say something completely different but the end message is the same. Ontop of this She may have words we dont, for example in the German language there is a word, Backpfeifengesicht, which translates to, 'a face badly in need of a fist'. Translating words like these are virtually impossible without knowing that they exist prior. I'm Sorry pebble but translating is going to take more than me just trying to crack the language as if it was a code."

just as pebble was to ask a question she was interrupted by her mother speaking. "Foods done, Charles do you want to carve?"

Charles raised an eyebrow to this question. "What's on?"

"Pork, yorkshires, sausages with the bacon, roast spuds and the greens."

/.../

General Hopper walked down multiple long white corridors till he reached a heavy blast door, after entering his personnel identity code and another security code multiple locks were heard unlatching and the door slowly swung open, after he made his way inside the door closed behind him and the locks latched with a loud thump. walking another 5 meters forward Hopper came across a window that over looked a large construction hall, so large one could not see the far side due to the Earths curvature. Once he give the hall a quick survey from his position he approached a microphone that was on the left side of the window and said. "Doctor Newton Phosphor attend observatory 14 immediately." It was 21 minutes and 14 seconds before a tall, thin and scrawny out of breath scientist with dark wire like hair and glasses as thick as bottle of jam jars burst through the blast door, when he saw the General standing looking out the window he bent over and balanced himself on his knees in a vain effort to regain his breath. At hearing the man's heavy breathing the general allowed himself another minute of staring out the window before turing around to face the scientist. "Doctor Newton?"

The thin man stood from his knees and looked to the General while speaking between his breaths. "General... Newton... Sir."

The general straightened out his uniform before approaching the scientist. "I assume you have good news for me."

Newton released a heavy cough before nodding his head and saying. "The answer was... right below our nose the entire... time, it was Luke that spotted it but... it was right there." The general made no visible emotional response to this comment so the scientist continued. "The shard of metal is made... from the same element as our... Prometheus missiles, but because of how... highly secretive they are the spectroscopy results told... us it was an unknown element."

"So can you do it?"

Newton walked over to the side of the room and pulled up 8 different schematics. "We are currently building 8 satellites, I... don't know what your looking for but... if anything made... with the same element comes within 750,000km of... Earths atmosphere we will know."

Hopper walked over to give the schematics a closer inspection, after a grunt or two of satisfaction he spoke again. "When will they be ready for active service?"

Newton give the general a smile. "6 hours, then two hours to set them up."

"Excellent, Doctor, Now I've called you here to tell you that you and your team are being re-assigned."The Doctor had a face of pure disappointment, this project was his baby and he was willing to defend it as if it was his biological offspring.. "B-b-b to what? and why?"

"You and your team are to report to General Kastanie Drescher by 0915 for a debriefing, there your questions will be answered."

Newton started to scratch his finger nails as he thought. "Can you at least tell me what its about General?"

"Were breaching the final frontier Newton."

/.../

Teor sat in front of her food while holding her fork in the most awkward imaginable way, despite living on Earth for four days now this was the first time she used a one, all of the other food she had consumed so far required a spoon or just her fingers, after looking at how Charles and Pebble were using their own she quickly got the idea. The next confrontation she had to face was on her plate, the 3 slices of meat, while Pebble told her it was meat and she could have something more vegetarian friendly she denied it in favor of trying out the human culture, and the fact she did not want to be a burden to the human. So with a large gulp she stabbed the meat on the plate with the weird 3 pronged fork and began cutting away, when she cut a small slither off she dressed it with a few vegetables and yorkshire pudding, on Thessia this meal would raise a few eyebrows to say the least, it was very unusual to have such a mixture of foods all on one plate. After slight hesitation she raised the fork to her mouth and slipped the food inside, before chewing Teor took the opportunity to allow her tongue to simply taste the food and feel the texture, at first taste she was unsure as to if she liked it or not and the texture was a funny mix, some of it was slippery, other bits were rough and the meat was a little stringy and leather like yet it also felt tender, once satisfied she chewed till the point that no one food was distinguishable and then took a small moment to reflect on the taste, to her surprise in a mashed up state it was actually not so bad, after swallowing her food with a large gulp she decided to try different mixtures on the plate, find out what went together best and simply enjoy herself.

Once Teor eat as much as she could she looked up to the glass of red liquid on the table, bringing the drink up to her nose she was surprised by the overwhelming scent of what she guessed was fruits, she didn't know what it was but she knew it smelled sweet, so she quickly lowered it to her mouth and give it a small sample taste, as her nose correctly guessed it was in fact fruity and on the bonus side it tasted like Seri, a traditional Asari fruit drink that most Asari had with their breakfast. So with a slight smile on her face and the thirst caused by the salty pork she drank as much as she could, when finished she placed the glass back on the table to only then hear Charles and Pebble start laughing to one another. When Charles settled down he eventually manged to say. "Looks like this Asari has a taste for the wine." Pebble raised her eyebrows temporarily to this response while refilling the now empty glass. After pudding the four humanoids retreated to the living room, Charles sat on the sofa with Lynda and Russel, who was terrorising one of Charles boots inner soles, while Teor and Pebble dragged two seats in from the kitchen. Once they were comfy the four discussed in greater depths methods of communication they could try.

/.../

Tar for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

Newton sat with his research team of 12 scientists in small conference room, at the front of the room there was a large white projector screen with nothing on it, as the seconds passed Newton became more and more nervous, the room was guarded by armed personnel, they were virtually strip searched just to get into the room and any electronic device on them was confiscated, what ever his team was getting involved with it was big. It was another nervous five minutes before a short plump General walked into the room, when he got to the front he loaded up the projector then turned to the scientists. "Any information learned in this room doesn't leave this room." Without waiting to find out if that was going to be a problem he carried on. "Ladies and Gentlemen, everything you thought about the peace treaty that was established 3 weeks back is not true." The general flicked some switch on a remote, all of a sudden the projector came to life and a grainy black and white image of a long object formed on the screen. "It's approximately 15 miles long and radiates energy as if it was an abundance. What ever this thing is, its the true reason why the treaty was formed." One of newtons newest team members stuck his hand up, to which the general stopped speaking and stared directly at him.

"Sir, no disrespect but I doubt we just dropped our weapons over this thing."

The General nodded then spoke again. "Correct." he flicked the remote again till another image came on the screen, this time it looked like a bunch of random sinusoidal waves. "Every time its energy spikes, SETI has discovered these signals using the voyager probe, now does this look like natural signal to you Doctor?" The doctor shook his head allowing the General to continue. "Well that's because they aren't. Now, whether by coincidence or Gods greater plan we had a close encounter of the third kind no more than five small days ago and this is what we got." With another flick of the remote an image of three dead aliens and one crashed shuttle came into focus, the horror in the mens face's varied, some had their mouths open, others were more tamed and sat as far back in their chair as they could and then the rare few actually sat forward to get a better look. "Roswell was a Hoax, the Alien autopsy was a hoax and the supposed trade deal with the President of the US of A was also, surprise surprise a hoax. Now what's not a hoax is this image." After flicking through a few more photo's the general said. "I've called this team here because we have one broken FTL engine and you are going to fix it, then you are going to fit it in a ship so we can visit this object at the far side of our solar system."

/.../

Pebble awoke with a groan, Russell was barking at the front door and it was still dark outside, although at this time in the year that did not necessarily mean it was early. With a grumble to herself at the dog she got up, let it outside to do its business and then slowly made her way back up the stairs when the dog came back inside, just as she was about to return to her room she heard a faint noise originate from Teors room, she was not sure but it sounded like a human sob. With a frown on her face Pebble tip-toed to the Aliens door, as she got closer the sobbing got slightly louder until it was clear that the alien was in fact sobbing, it amazed Pebble just how much this alien that evolved on a complete different planet, in a complete different solar system, was similar to humans, not just in mental and emotional traits but also physical. After careful deliberating over whether to knock on the door and attempt to consult the Asari or just to pretend like she heard nothing Pebble lightly knocked and then and popped her head through the crack in the partially open door. Teor was startled at hearing a knock on the door and out of reflex quickly turned to face the door. The second Teor turned around Pebble could see the blue blood shot eyes and the reflective strips of skin where tears had rolled down her face, at seeing the tears Pebble moved into the room, sat down next to the asari and rubbed her back in a circular motion, while hoping at the same time that what she was doing didn't mean something completely different in Asari terms. In truth Teor was glad the human had noticed her upset and sat down besides her and proceeded in an obvious attempt to comfort her. Leaning her head on the humans shoulder Teor slowly snaked a hand over to the humans free hand and gently took it into her grasp before looking to Pebble, with a small nod and a blink from the human Teor pulled the human with more strength than she wanted into a meld.

/.../

Pebble found herself sat on a beach after being pulled into the Asari's mind, looking around she found Teor sat next to herself looking out down the beach, following her line of sight Pebble could see 4 more Asari, two were adults and the other two were children; one looked no more than 7-8 years of age and the other possibly five at the oldest, they were all sat in the sand and building castles, giggling and talking as they did so. After a few silent moments passed Teor eventually said. "This is the happiest memory I have, I was on holiday with my entire family, there wasn't a single worry in the galaxy that I cared about, no work, no wars, no nothing. It was just me and my family enjoying our vacation."

After speaking there was another silence till Pebble said. "Which one are you?"

Teor hugged her knees before saying. "The elder child."

"So you must be about 8 possibly 7?"

This comment brought a slight smile to the Asari, the human tried to apply human logic to everything, not that she could blame her, it was less than a week ago that she thought her species were the sole intelligence in the universe. "19 actually."

The human was gob smacked, if she was that young looking at 19, how old was she now? "So how old are you?"

Teor stayed in silence as she thought about the question. "81." Pebble opened and closed her mouth, in a similar manner to her mother earlier the other day. When she eventually thought of her response Teor spoke again. "The wave crashes in 3... 2... 1..." Sure enough Pebble saw a large wave crash into the sand and the small family running away from the wash while giggling and laughing to one another.

Forgetting her original response Pebble replied. "So is that your sister."

"Yes."

Pebble rubbed her under jaw in thought. "Tell me about her."

Teor smiled at the thought. "she's six years younger than me, smart, joyful and a dancer. Right now she will be practicing for a play come new cycle, its just a small role but its still a role, she's talks about it nearly every day. Goddess you don't realise how much you enjoy some one's company till its taken away." After speaking the two sat in silence once more, just watching the family interact. Eventually Teor said. "How about yourself, your happiest moment?"

The human laid back in the sand, she was thinking of a happy memory but it was for all the wrong reasons. "To cut a long story short I was shot and paralysed from just above the waist down on my last mission, the happy moment comes two years later when an operation allowed me to walk again, it was that first step and wiggle of the toes when I was at my happiest, it was then I realised I was no longer dependent on others, I could go upstairs without the aid of others, walk Russell, go where my wheelchair couldn't. I regained my freedom. Anyhow, you were upset earlier?"

The Asari blinked before laying back in the sand also. "I'm missing home, my family, my friends. Even my work."

"Hmm, tell me more about your family."

The Asari released a deep breath, where to start. "Well, you know about my sister. My Father is another Asari, she's called Reas T'nook, an environmental engineer, 255 years of age but I rarely see her. My mother, Consta Am'ber, is what is known as a Matriach, I believe she is 832 years."

Pebble released a high pitched whiste. "Thats alot of candles on the birthday cake."

The Asari pushed herself up onto her elbows at this comment and looked at Pebble. "On a what?"

Pebble opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow. "On a birthday cake." Teor continued to give her a confused look. "You know, a fluffy sweet cake that you get every year on your birthday?" Teor continued to look perplexed. "Okay then, whens your birthday?"

There was some hand counting from the Asari before she replied. "2nd cycle, 43rd day."

"Your not used to answering anything like that are you?"

Teor shook her head, she was slowly getting more and more comfortable using the human gestures. "Asari can live for more than 1000 years, many Matriarchs don't know their birth date only birth year."

"Hmm, how many cycles is their in a human year?"

"7, why?"

Now it was pebbles turn to do some counting. "April the 13th. why? Because if your still here your getting a Birthday cake. Human tradition."

Teor laid back down in thought, after some silence she replied. "Then I look forward to it."

There was once again a small silence between the two, only waves could be heard. Eventually after some deep thought Pebble spoke up. "I've walked Russell on the same route multiple times every day for the past four days, sofar I haven't come across anyone. I believe it would be safe for you to join me if your wanting to."

Teor once again pushed herself up onto her elbows and looked down to the human in an attempt to see if she was lying or not, when she concluded she was being sincere she responded. "Are you sure?"

"Uh hu."

Teor didn't even think about the dangers involved as she answered. "Yes, That... that would be terrific."

Pebble released a slight smile before saying. "Right, I'll give you a shout before going, probably at first light."

/.../

Thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

Hey, thanks for getting to CH9!

/.../

Reale was laid back on her bed with a datapad in her hand when the buzzer to her door went, as she was still dressed she used her finely tuned biotics to flick the switch on the door to allow the person outside to enter, when Gar, her XO entered, she knew there was bad news on the immediate horizon. With a release of a large sigh the Turian XO spoke. "Captain, there is a situation."

Reale put her datapad down and sat at the end of the bed before saying. "What is it?"

Gar flared her mandibles before she said. "The Humans have launched some sort of radar. It will detect our shuttle."

This was not the type of bad news Reale was expecting, the humans were supposed to be grunts who liked shooting each other not scientists. "Have Photax take a look, see if we can hack the system."

The Turian replied immediately to the Spectre. "I spoke to him before informing yourself. He doesn't believe he can hack it before mission go tomorrow."

Reale rubbed her heavy eyes, this was definitely not the news she wanted to hear. "How long does he estimate?"

"He couldn't give me a straight answer." The Asari blinked once or twice before the XO spoke again. "May I request permission to speak freely?"

"Granted."

"I've got a bad feeling about this mission, your going to be going in alone on an unknown planet, with hostiles you've never faced before and whose residents are loyal to governing force, on top of that your doing it with no back up or air support within the immediate area, and if you do call in back up the political storm that will follow could cost you your Spectre status. Are we really ready for this mission?"

The Asari blinked and nodded her head, the nod more to get used to the human gesture then to signify anything to the turian, then she reached over to the datapad she put down beforehand and passed it to the Turian. "Your forgetting that the humans have never faced an Asari before, they work in large groups, I will be a single infiltrator, they have no biotic capabilities, I do, they have technology years behind our own. I am not at such a disadvantage as you think."

The turian looked over the datapad, while she agreed with all the Spectre said there was one tiny bit of information she felt the Asari was overlooking or thought insignificant. "And this ammunition they use?"

The Asari blinked again, it was true the humans ammo was an unknown variable. "Hopefully my armor will withstand it if it comes to it."

The turian flared her mandibles again. "We have never faced chemical propelled ammunition before, to proceed with out knowing its capabilities could be a monumental mistake."

The asari nodded and blinked again. "Even so, I'm used to and work best in light armor. To change armor type hours or even days pre-mission could be just as lethal."

This was a battle the XO was not going to win and the Turian knew it. "Alright then, point taken. How is the neural interface adapter settling in?"

Reale activated and then changed a few settings on her omni tool, after saving the settings she spoke in an alien language the Turian had never heard before, it seemed like the Asari was speaking normally but with it being an unknown language, one could not know for sure till they were planet side. After a couple of seconds speaking in the human tongue the Spectre changed the settings back and asked. "Well? Sound alien to you?"

There was a flare of the turians mandibles before the XO said. "Alien enough."

/.../

Teor peaked out of the door, snow was coming down lightly, the wind was blowing ever so slightly in a western direction and the snow already on the ground was atleast a foot and a half deep, in truth the Asari was getting second thoughts about exploring the outside world. Asari belonged in enviroments where the average temperature was warm enough for shorts and shirts, not ice boots and coats multiple inches thick. With a sigh at the thought the girl took her first small step out into the frozen world, as soon as she did so she instantly regretted it, raising a hand in a frantic manner the Asari rubbed her head with a gloved hand, snow falling had landed on her head and the warmth of her body had caused a small snow flake to melt into a icy cold water droplet that was now making its way down her crest. Seeing the Asari's antics Pebble gained a large smirk as she walked out of the door and raised the hood on the back of the coat to cover the girls head. Feeling the hood being pulled over her head Teor blushed, how had she been so stupid? After tying the laces to the hood tightly Teor looked up to find out where Pebble had disappeared too however when she looked up she was mesmerized by the world around her, despite seeming at first glance to be a boring ugly ice world it was far from it, the snow lined the trees in a way that only accentuated their size and beuty, animal tracks could be seen making their way across the snow in front of her, the sounds of animals were audible and large icicles split the odd rays of light that made it through the clouds into the rest of the visible light spectrum, no Teor made a mistake, this was not such a horrible world after all. As Teor started a quick jog to catch the human she could hear panting coming from behind her, before she could turn to face the beast Russell had surpassed her and was running at the same pace just infront of her, Teor noticing the dog was amazed, it had no coats on other than its fur and it was raring to go, it didn't seem to be effected by the cold in the least. Just as they caught up with the human Pebble bent down, collected some snow in her hands, compacted it into a small ball and then teased Russell with the white ice ball. When the dog started to bark in frustration of not being granted the holy ball of fun Pebble threw the ball back in the direction from which they just came. Teor watched with wide eyes, she knew the dog had a good scent but surely it would fail to find a small snow ball when the entire place was covered in a foot and a half of the stuff? To her surprise the dog came running back a short time later with the ball of ice in its mouth. Running up infront of Pebble the dog dropped the ball at her feet and sat down, waiting for its master to throw the ball again. After slowly and painfully kneeling down Pebble picked the ball up and passed it to Teor. As this was Teors first time holding a snow ball she was unusually careful, not wanting to deform it or break it in any way, however after a few seconds to acquaint her self with the properties of the ball of ice she raised it with her biotics and propelled it 50 meters in the direction Pebble was walking. Sure enough the happy four legged creature ran off in chase of its Ball of fun.

After a while Teor got bored of the game and let Pebble take over so that she could simply enjoy walking through the forest that the three were venturing through, when she simply stopped to look, she was surprised at how much life was in the forest, tiny red animals would run along the tree trunks, birds of all colours and sizes sat perched on branches singing and tweeting their own individual songs, but the highlight of the walk was a small waterfall with a large beast that had horn like things protruding from its head that would put a Salarian to shame. Eventually when they arrived at the top of a large hill that looked down onto a small village below it Pebble made the decision to turn around and head back home, partially due to the burning pain that was now making its way up her left leg, and partially because the originally blue Asari was now turning a dark shade of purple.

/.../

After awakening for her mission Reale quickly got dressed and headed down to Photax's office, when she got their she discovered the scientist running simulations on his terminal, after watching for a short time Reale got the impression the simulations were showing data the Salarian didn't want. "Simulations not going as planned?"

The Salarian jumped in fright when the Asari spoke, he was so focused on his work he failed to notice her watching him. "Yes, human Technology is... proving to be troublesome."

Reale rested her head on the door frame, these humans were proving to be more problematic than she ever thought possible. "How so?"

The Salarian stood up from his chair and started to pace up and down his office as he spoke. "Their technology is primitive but complex. Hacking the satellites is easy, but in order to create a big enough gap in the radar 3 satellites need to be hacked simultaneously."

Reale squinted at the Salarian, where was the problem with that? "And how is that problematic?"

"Humans use light to communicate with satelities, light has finite speed, hack occurs at different times, result, hack discovered within milliseconds of its implementation."

Reale released a sigh, maybe Gar was right, this mission was going from bad to worse by the second. When her sigh was released she said. "So what do you suggest?"

"Stealth technology already developed to overcome issue. Direct council approval required to adapt shuttle 1."

Reale turned from the door and started to walk towards the communication room, as she did so she spoke to the Salairan. "I'll get it. Begin the required work."

/../

When they arrived home Pebble was walking with a heavy limp and flopped on to the sofa as soon as she had the chance, she didn't know why, but the cold always with out fail made her left knee stiffen up and flare with pain for a few hours during and after exposure. With a grumble at the thought the human slowly leaned over and pulled the box full of medicine and syringes out from under the sofa, then rolled her trouser leg up past the source of pain and injected a small dosage of transparent light-green liquid, the effect of the syringe was almost instant, the stiff feeling in her leg dissipated almost the second that the liquid was injected and the pain was dulled not long after. Once she cleaned up after herself she was about to push the box back under the sofa when she heard a voice come from the kitchen. "Want me to dispose of that for you?"

Looking up to the source of the voice, Pebble saw her mothers head sticking out from the kitchens doorway and looking directly at the now empty needle laying by her side. With a shake of her head the younger human said. "Naaa, I've got a proper bin for it in a cupboard, I'll get rid of it when I next get back up."

The older human nodded, opened her mouth to ask a question but then hesitated slightly. When Pebble stopped what she was doing and looked expectantly at her mother she eventually said. "What are the different colour liquids for?"

Pebble didn't need to follow her mothers line of sight to know what she was asking about. "I added a slight touch of colouring to the drugs to identify which drug is which if I'm in a hurry. Anyway the darker the colour the stronger it is. Dark blue will pretty much knock me out cold for an hour or two while clear is for every day use.

Lynda knew her daughter struggled with her knee but did not realise she was on daily medicine to keep it in check. "That bad huh?"

Pebble pushed the box back under the sofa so Russell couldn't get at it, as she did so she replied. "Yeah. The Radio's certainly did a job when they got me." Lynda shook her head at her daughters comment, she hated thinking about the entire incident. "Anyway, where did you two go earlier? I was up a while back but it looked like you two had packed your bags."

Charles stuck his head around the kitchen door a few seconds after Pebble spoke. "Went for a walk. Anyhow whats a 'Radio'?"

The youngest human sat back in the chair, she wasn't sure she wanted to tell her father quite what it was, if he looked it up, he would find out some information she would rather he was ignorant too, but if she ignored the question he was more than likely going to look it up when he got home. After a sigh she eventually spoke. "Radio-active ammunition. They tear through armor and barriers as if they don't exist."

The father squinted for a few seconds in thought before asking another question. "Hmm, I'm about to put the kettle on if you want a cup."

"Yeah, And a hot chocolate please. The Asari probably would like something to warm up, if you thought she was blue before, you should see her now."

/.../

Well chaps, thats this chapter over with. Thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

Right, longest chapter yet. just over 3k words. Enjoy.

/.../

Pebble helped her father out to his car with the bags he had brought for the over night visit, as they carried the bags the elder human spoke. "So, whats your plans come Christmas and New Year?"

The younger ex soldier had no idea. "My plans are so extensive that all I know is what I'm having for Dinner." The retired soldier took a moments pause to think about the sweet, tasty, mouth watering food she had every year on the same two days. " One massive Turkey joint with all the usual sides... and extra yorkshires"

The father chuckled to himself before saying. "I'm in the same boat then. I think your mother has some plans but I don't know. She tells me next to nothing these days."

Pebble rolls her eyes at the thought. "Tell me about it. It was the day before her birthday when I found out she planned for me and some others to go with her to Corfu." The father shook his head at the comment. "Anyhow, do you know if she is going to have any visitors over?"

"Err... Christmas day some one is comming over... I think... then we may be looking after my brothers new kid on new years eve and day."

This small statement was news to Pebble. "Tim's had a kid?"

"Yeah, 8 months back I think. Called John."

Pebble opened the boot to the car before she responded. "Well, tell him a rather belated congrats from me, anyhow, what were the road blocks like when you passed Crags Heap?"

The father dropped his bags in the boot before saying. "It looked like they were packing up when we got checked."

Pebble dropped the bag and airbed into the boot. When her hands were free she replied. "Hmm, would you mind having another two visitors over new years eve and day then?"

"Sure, thats fine with me, but you better check with your mother to be safe." Tha man was quite for a short time as he thought to him self. "how would you get to ours in the first place?"

Pebble slumped back down into her sofa next to Teor who was nursing a cup of hot chocolate. "Set off as soon as the sun goes over the horizon and then hope to kingdom come a copper doesn't pull us over."

The father continued into the kitchen in order to pick up the two cups of tea that was cooling on the kitchen table. "And what if they do?"

Pebble had her reply ready. "We are attending a fancy dress new year party, Teor is going as the alien released on those pictures, but she is from Norway, if the cops asks her a question explains why she can't reply." There was a short silence before Pebble added. "and we became friendly during the war."

"So we have one very convincing looking alien and some standard human? Don't think it will fly."

Pebble shook her head in agreement. "No. No it wont."

/.../

/.../

3 weeks, 2 days and 18 hours later. Local time, 0732.

Teor took a deep breath the second she landed on E561, right now the only thing that could take her back to her vessel was shooting off into the sky at over 500mph, the only communication she had between her ship and herself was her omni tool. If she failed to establish contact for 27 hours she was expected to roundervous at this very spot, at the precise time of 0200 hours the next day. If she failed to make that meeting she would be classed as MIA and doomed to live out the rest of her probably short life on E561. There was no doubt in the Asari's mind that this was probably the highest risk mission she had ever undertook, if she got injured she only had emergency field supplies, her food was limited - although if necessary she could steal it, there was no allies to help and the environment could kill her within hours if she was to get stuck with no shelter. The only up side was the fact she had unlimited ammo and a lot of grenades on the side, yes, with out a shadow of a doubt this was Reale's highest risk mission. After taking the deep breath Reale started to slowly jog in a north west direction, she had two miles to cover before she would arrive at her first location, the spot where the shuttle had crashed.

As she got within 100 meters of the landing spot her omni took picked up encrypted transmissions, stopping in her tracks the Spectre tuned her ear piece into the transmissions, applied a tool to decypt the signal and listened in, this would be her first chance to actually test her neural adapter. If she failed to understand the transmissions, all she knew was that she was in deep trouble.

"... What you getting the bens?"

The Asari smiled at hearing comprehensible words, sofar so good. As she continued to jog she heard a reply, a husky voice that was distinctively deeper. "The youngest is getting electric scooter, the oldest has been pestering me for an air riffle for a while now."

Reale slowed down into a walk, the signal was getting stronger and stronger the more she closed into her desired location. "Ha, Tims first gun. Hope you aint going to be the one to teach him how to shoot. All you do is close your eyes and spray."

"Hm. Easy for you to say. Some of us have to get up close and personnel, unlike someone who hides up in high spots."

The two started laughing to one another before another gruff voice joined them. "Heads up. We have a visitor at 9 o clock. Harry's leg."

There was silence till the female whispered. "Got the target in my sights. Orders?"

Just as Reale was going to shield herself with her biotics the one who give her location spoke. "Same as usual. Were only to take them in if they do something unusual."

"Affirmative."

"Radio silence till further notice."

Reale continued to walk to the crash site, as she did so she attempted to look around for the natives. If she needed to engage them she atleast wanted to know where they were, especially as one of them sounded like they were a sniper. After travelling another 10 meters Reale was starting to worry, she failed to spot anything, by the time she walked 20 meters she could feel her heart rate start to rocket. This entire situation stunk ambush, the easy to decrpyt communication, the information given that was easy to deduce one of them had either a smg or assault riffle thus would be close by, most likely on the floor and another a sniper so the fact one was probably high in a tree somewhere. What was she missing? After walking another ten meters she found what she was looking for, it would have been neigh on impossible to spot if she came in from any other location or if she simply didn't know she was being watched. What she saw was her first native, hiding in snowy heap in a ditch just off the path she was walking along. She assumed it was looking at her but she didn't want to stare, if they knew that she knew that they were there, they might want to take her in. As she walked past she quickly glanced at the native, it had a large weapon with a large caliber. What ever it shot was going to hurt if her shields were down.

Reale continued on her path till she reached the small creator that was left from the shuttle crash landing, as she suspected there was nothing left, the natives had taken the shuttle away. Turning around Reale did a 360 degree observation. The direction that she just walked from had multiple trees with broken off canopies, the device given to her by Photax failed to pick up any element zero, thus failed to find Teor. In a direction to the east of the crash seemed to be a few large hills that could provide some place for shelter, to her west, north and south were trees. With a slight sigh Reale started to walk towards the hills, after twenty or so meters her omni tool flared up, Reale, conscious of being watched immediately shut it down. What ever the tool that Photax had given her had found, it had a high concentration of element zero. After closing the tool Teor continued to walk very slowly and act as if nothing was wrong, however when she heard radio transmission from the group watching her, her heart rate began to rise again.

"Beta."

After listening for a few more seconds there was no reply from the others, that was either good news or bad, it could mean either of the following, take her in, that she passed a certain threshold of distance from the crash site, the change of radio channels or she had sparked some curiosity and that was there code word.

A few more seconds passed till the female replied. "Negitive."

Then the other male responded. "Negitive."

Reale shoved her hand with her omni tool in her pocket and activated haptic feed back, that way as she got closer to the thing that triggered Photax's device the vibrations in the device would get stronger. After walking another five meters the device wrapped around Reales wrist was vibrating so strongly it was starting to physically hurt the Asari, what ever it was vibrating at, it was very close indeed. Using her foot to clear some snow off the ground Reale took the risk and quickly pulled her hand out of her pocket and put it to the ground before moving it around, it wasn't long before she found what she was looking for. It was what appeared to be a head crest. Reale quickly put the piece of frozen flesh in her pocket before continuing to walk towards the tall hills, when she heard the 3 natives break radio silence and continue to talk as if nothing happened she couldn't help but give a smug smile.

/.../

Local time, 1456

Reale sat down on a rock by a stream and pulled the crest out of her pocket, as she looked at it she was amazed that she found it beneath all of the snow. Activating her omni tool she took a quick scan before contacting her vessel. "Come in Little Bird, this is Rarry."

It was a few seconds before her vessel replied. "I hear you Rarry. You haven't wrapped up and wanting to come home already are you?"

The Asari smiled at the thought of that. "Unfortunately not, but I do have a scan for you to analyse." After speaking Reale forwarded the scans she just took to her vessel.

There was a small delay before a response was made. "That is a positive. Is a LON to be forwarded to the Council?"

"Negative, all I've found is a crest."

There was another delay. "Understood. Do you require anything else?"

The asari blinked despite not being in the presence of anyone. "How is the weather forecast looking for the next two hours?"

"Cold, windy and a little snow on the side. Hope your amours life support is working."

"I'm all warm in here. Anyway I've checked the hills and ridges along the east side of the crash with no further luck. I'm going to head into the main site now and attempt to secure a place to get water and then pitch."

"Understood. Keep your finger on the trigger down there."

Once the reply came through Reale shut down her omni tool and looked at the crest. "Where on E561 are you?"

/.../

local time 1642

Reale was stood infront of a town information map, these humans used very funny logos to identify different facilities was all that she could keep thinking to herself, but after managing to shake her head free from the silly thoughts she found what she was after, a grocery store a hundred or so meters up the road, however when Reale looked up the road she needed to walk up she immediately got second thoughts, there was multiple military trucks parked up along the side of the road. To get to the grocery store she would literally have to walk millimeters away from the people who were paid to hunt her down and probably kill her. As she swallowed her fears about doing so she felt the omni tool on her hand flutter to life and and begin to vibrate stronger by the second. Looking around she found 3 people approaching her location, one was military and the other two were civilians, two of them on her side of the road were heading into the street with all the military vehicles and the other one was coming from that street on the opposite side of the road.

Hoping to her goddess that it would be the one that was walking away from the street of hell Reale crossed the road but as she did so she felt her omni tool's vibrations weaken, she had crossed the road to intercept the wrong person, and the person she was going to intercept was the guy from the military. Reale let a very shallow breath go as she put her head down and walked slowly up the street, when she passed the armed individual without issues she gained another smile and a boost of confidence, her disguise was good enough to pass her enemies in close proximity. Turning her head to look for the two individuals that possibly set off Photax's tool she discovered one of them had disappeared into a store and there was now only one of the two natives on the street, yet the vibrations stayed as strong as ever. She found her mark. While walking up the street the human visited multiple stores, talked to some soldiers and other random passer by's. As she did so Reale had a chance to check out the equipment the native's military was packing, the troops armor had multiple weak spots, most notably the legs, crotch area and neck. All of the troops, no matter what their specialty carried close combat weapons and a knife, each and every one had a radio with them, and each and every one had some sight aid that appeared at close glance to be infra red vision. When they passed the street of hell Reale allowed the human to get some distance and crossed the street, after doing so she stayed out of sight but made sure the human was constantly in her sight. As she continued to follow the human Reale made some observations, the human limped on what appeared to be a weak or painful left leg, her right arm was dominant and she kept brushing her face, Reale was unsure as to why for this but but she was sure she was going to find out soon.

/.../

Pebble opened the front door to her house as quietly as possible and quickly got herself through the door before locking it again, once it was locked Pebbled turned around and looked to make sure Teor wasn't around. When she was satisfied she got in the house un-noticed she snuck up the stairs and placed multiple bags ontop of her dresser. As the human backed away from the bags on the dresser she allowed herself a small smile at the items she bought, she only hoped the pain in her knee was worth it. As the pain in her knee flared, Pebble scowled before slowly removing her outer coat and setting it down on the bed, just as she was about to remove her boots she heard the unthinkable. Her front door, it had a slight creak to it that would go off if the door opened past a certain speed. She hadn't heard Teor make her way downstairs and even if she did, the Asari hadn't exposed herself to the cold since her walk. No, that door either opened on its own accord, or somebody opened it. The next thing Pebble noticed was the ever so quiet creak and groan of the stairs, a trait of when someone walked up the inner side of the steps. Pebble very quickly, but incredibly quietly made her way towards the door to her room, turned off the lights and stood as flatly against the wall as she could. When her door opened her eyes very quickly focused on the gun that crept though, the light from the hallway illuminating it brightly against the dark in her room. When a face appeared through the door Pebble's military instincts kicked in, she struck the neck of the individual as hard as she could muster, in her many years of service that specific blow had served as an immediate but temporarily crippling strike.

/.../

Reale stumbled back a foot or two after a powerful blow to her neck, but captured by her armors shields forced her backwards, it had been a very long time since she had been caught off guard. Before she could raise her weapon back upwards she found the human she had been previously following come around the door with speed and grab her weapon with her left hand before thrusting it downwards and onto the wall, essentially pinning the Asari on her side and rendering her inner arm useless. With her right hand the human quickly delivered another strike on the shocked Asari however her hand made contant with something hard under the intruders coat. Reale seeing her chance as the human pulled back a now damaged hand broke free and returned with a counter attack to the humans lower neck and upper chest, she wanted it to talk and thus not damage its vocal chords. When the human moved backwards ever so slightly Reale had the space to raise her left hand properly and locked her into a stasis field. Before the human knew what was happening Reale rapidly delivered multiple biotically reinforce strikes to the natives left knee, however before a fourth blow could be delivered the Asari found herself flung through the air and falling down the stairs as a bright flash of blue caught her eyes. As she landed with a thump at the bottom of the stairs she caught the sight of a beast the size of a varren running down the stairs, its eyes fixed on nothing but herself.

/.../

Okay I enjoyed writing that chapter, not gunna deny it.

Thanks for reading!


	11. Chapter 11

Hey, thanks for getting to chap 11! Anyhow im sorry for how long it took this one to get out here. When I uploaded this onto FF I decided to make loads of changes on the webpage before saving it... anyhow power cut and bang, lost a few hours worth of work. And yeah, I was a very happy bunny after that. so to cut a long story short It took me a few days to get the time to re-write / edit it all again.

So let that be a lesson, save your work regularly.

/.../

Teor heard the front door squeak in its usual fashion. Pebble's home. Looking up to Russell who was gnawing away at a bone far too large for its own good she called its name. Russell who was now very fond of the Asari who give it tasty food looked up from its laid down position, seeing a red treat easily in her blue hands due to the large contrast he quickly stood and jumped down from the Asari's bed before sitting infront of the Asari. Teor quickly leant over and scratched a few times behind the dogs ear, happy that he was willing to give up his bone for her, but she couldn't scratch for too long, she had a task to complete. Leaning back so that she was sat upright on her bed once more she made eye contact and displayed the bacon twizzler once more, just as she was about to say 'remote' the dog broke its eye contact and looked straight towards the door, after a couple of seconds the dog stood up and slowly stalked its way over to the door, just as it was about to exit through the large Alsation sized dog flap there was loud footsteps and a thump heard. Once russell left Teor quickly rolled over the bed and opened the door. the site that greeted her caused her to power up her biotics out of reflex and shove as much energy as she could down the hallway, hoping that the energy would break up the fighting pair, or at least save Pebble from her attacker.

/.../

Reale rolled over to face the dog and raised her hand the second she landed at the bottom of the stairs, without a second thought she placed the dog in a powerful biotically powered slam, trusting her biotics to do as required the Spectre stood as quickly as she could, flared and readied her biotics so that she could dispose of its energy instantly and appear to her foe to be all the more intimidating. Looking back up the stairs as soon as she was stood she found the beast that she placed in the slam still floating in the air as if something else was acting on it and cancelling her own biotics. Just as she was about to place the dog in yet another slam she was distracted as a body covered in similar blue fire to her own came to the top of the stairway and aimed a gun with shaking hands in her direction. It didn't take long for Reale to work out what happened and who was to blame for pushing her to the bottom of the stairs. "Teor Am'ber?"

/.../

The biotic energy Teor summoned and threw down the hallway propogated out in the form of an unfocussed but sucessful shockwave, Russell who was still too close to Teor to get hit went unscathed but Pebble and Reale were thrown down the corridor, Pebble hit off a wall and fell to the floor just before the stairs but Reale seemed to be in the sweet spot and was thrown out of view down the stairs. When the energy disipaited and it was safe to approach Teor ran to Pebble's location, the human was awake, but dazed. Rushing a bit further forward to the edge of the stairs and lookcing down Teor saw the intruder roll over and place Russell who chased after her in some sort of biotic field. Once again with out thinking about it Teor placed Russell in one of her own biotic fields, hoping that the lift she was placing him in would cancel out any downward or sideway forces the dog may experience. Then raising her hands once more she was about to throw some more energy at the intruder but found all she could summon was biotic sparks. Pebble cursed, the intruder is getting up and is biotically charged. She stood no chance, hell, she was an Asari, against a human in hand to hand she stood no chance, they were stronger than Asari and just as quick, no this had to be a biotic battle. Turning around Teor was about to run along the corridor, hoping that as the intruder reclimbed the stairs her own biotics would be recharged but as she turned a small glint caught her eye. The intruders weapon! Running as fast her legs could take her to the gun she picked it up and then headed back towards the stairs.

/.../

./

Just before the young Asari could act in any way shape or form once she reached the top of the stairs the intruder at the bottom of the stairs said. "Teor Am'ber?" How did this human know her name? Did she want to know?

Teor replied moments later in her native tongue, the only way she was going to even remotely trust them was if they knew her language. "W-Who are you?"

The Biotic at the bottom of the stairs dropped her biotics after placing the beast floating in a stasis, she didn't want that thing any where near her and said "Teor, my name is Reale. Im a Spectre. I've been sent here to bring you home."

The younger Asari dropped her biotics, that answer was good enough for her, there was no way that humans would know about Spectres. "Why do you look human then?" The disguised asari smiled before pulling off a wig on her head. Instead of replying Teor made her way down the stairs and grabbed Russell by the collar and tugged him to the floor. "Release him." The spectre did as requested. When the dog was free it growled and barked at the Asari that attacked its master and continued to do so even when Teor trapped it in the kitchen. Without saying anything to the Spectre Teor made her way back upstairs and to her guardian human. Pebble was curled on the floor while enthusiastically rubbing her left knee, her teeth were clenched and she had tears running down her face. Reale had certainly done a good job on her. Reale out of curiosity followed Teor up the stairs, as she observed Teor kneel down and pick the human up she said. "You aren't being held captive?"

Teor didn't reply till she laid the human down on the sofa. "No, she was protecting me." After pulling the box of chemicals and drugs out from under the sofa Teor injected the darkest colored drug she could find, moments later the human that was withering in pain seemed to pass out, however Teor wasn't fazed by this, she knew that the stronger drugs made the human tired and dopey.

"I planned to cripple her, not put her in severe pain."

Teor sighed and rubbed her temples as she thought about the statement, eventually when she thought of her response a short time later she replied. "She was shot in that knee a good few cycles back, its been a constant pain for her ever since."

Reale sighed before kneeling down in front of the human and expanding her omni-tool. After scanning the humans entire body she activated her communications to the ship. "Little bird come in, any one hear me up there?"

A few seconds later Gar came over the line. "Loud and clear. Got a status update for us?"

Reale blinked to herself. "Yes, I have the package live and kicking, also can you get doc to check over a scan, i'm sending it up now."

"I'll have the doc take a look at it now, and good to hear. Should i send word back?"

Reale clenched her fists. "I'll have her record a message for her parents first. Doc got a diagnosis yet?" This reply grabbed Teors attention, she could hear Reale's response's but nothing else.

There was another voice reply. "Yes. The Native appears to be riddled in some form of slow growing growth that is scarily similar to Terins disease and ontop of that there is a toxin is running through her system."

Reale bit her tongue, Terins diseases killed hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Asari before it was cured, if humans suffered from it too she couldn't imagine the amount of lives lost to it. "We know about the toxin, look at the left knee, is anything about it unusual?"

some light tapping could be heard before a response was made"Yes, it appears to have been subjected to severe trauma, recent and in the past. A lot of nerve damage, a severe shortage of cartridge and it appears to be one of the three epicenters of the growths, other than that, no broken bones or critical hemorrhaging."

Reale blinked. "Athame that. Gar, when can we next get a transport off of this damned planet?"

Gar replied instantly. "Not till you need to come home for good. Intercepted transmissions suggest the Natives know that we landed earlier. How they know we aren't too sure of at this instant, but were looking into it."

"All that time getting the god dam stealth drive to work was for nothing then." The asari released a large frustrated groan before speaking agian. "Doc, does the native's health seem stable enough to keep physically active for the next few weeks if not months?"

There was some humming and haring over the line before the Doctor replied. "Possibly but I'm not sure. I don't know enough about the native's biology to give a straight answer."

"Understood. Doc, keep an eye out for Teors beacon, I'll activate it soon and if possible can you have a better answer for me regarding the native by 0700. Gar, I want to know how they knew I landed, make it your top priority."

/.../

Once Teor calmed Russell down the Asari sat with the spectre in the kitchen, both of them supporting a cup of hot chocolate, however Teor unfortunately made it scorching hot, so for now all they could do was sit and look at the dark coloured drink. As they sat waiting the Spectre eyed Teor up and down, other than a missing crest and a few cuts or scrapes from the dogs teeth she seemed to be in a healthy state, but Reale knew appearances could be highly deceptive. "Teor, how are you doing? Is there any medical issues myself or my doctor should know about?"

Teor nodded as she blew on her drink. "Yes, my crest has been incredibly irritated recently..." Pebble watched the older Asari stand and make her way around the table, as she did so Pebble continued. "And I can't use human anti-biotics .." Reale gently took Teors head and manipulated it so she had a better view of the slowly healing wound. "as they will kill friendly bacteria in my digestive system that I can't regain on this world."

After a small while of humming and prodding the Spectre spoke. "How long have you had this wound?"

"30, possibly 31 days now, I know with it being my crest it would be slow to heal but... I don't know."

The spectre gently pinched some skin just above the wound which caused Teor to release a loud yelp. "Yes, it is infected.." After releasing Teors head the asari stood back before speaking again. "Teor do you have any other wounds or things you want to tell me?" The younger Asari eyed the Spectre cautiously, if she was going to pinch and prod every cut or scrape she would rather live with a few infections. Seeing straight through the young Asari the Spectre said. "Teor, I have a daughter your age so i know how people your age think. I know you don't want me to inspect every cut but this is a matter of life and death, we aren't on Thessia where medcine is available at every corner."

After one long check of the hot chocolate's temperature Teor eventually responded. "Other than a cut on my leg which has virtually healed everything else is healing well."

Reale blinked at the younger Asari. "Can you please show me?" Teor checked her drink again before exposing the deep cut on her left leg to the elder Asari, however this cut was not infected so the Spectre quickly moved on. "Okay then, so other than that wound, is everything else in order?" There was a slight look of hesitation on the younger Asari which the trained Spectre immediately picked up on. "Teor, this is for your own benefit, not mine nor anyone else."

Teor released a sigh, she didn't like all this scrutiny of her body. "When ever I meld I get exhausted in a matter of minutes. This has only started since the crash."

Before Teor could react Reale had a hand gently placed on each side of her head directing her gaze into her own eyes. "Teor, it's very important you answer me as honestly as you can, have you had any of these other symptoms? Tiredness during the day? Headaches? Memory Loss? Loss of concentration? Ringing in your ears? pain when seeing flashing lights?

Teor started to worry, this Asari in front of her seemed to jump out of a calm demeanor to a hurried one and come to think of it she had experienced a few of the other symptoms. "Y-yes, I can't remember anything during or the few hours after the crash. And one or two small headaches but they aren't that painful and the human pain killer seems to fix it."

There was a blink from the Spectre before she pulled her omni tool up again and performed a full scan of the younger Asari's head, if there was anything wrong she was going to find it, when the scan was complete the Asari re-established the connection to her ship, the Turian picked up nearly instantly. "Not missing my voice already are you?"

"Not yet. Put doc back on, I have another scan for her."

The doc's voice immediately came over the line. "I hope your not after an answer yet, I've barely scratched the surface of the natives biology."

"No, Check your messages, I've attached a scan of Teors brain, I want you to look at it now."

There was some tapping down the line and some unintelligible words spoken before there was a response. "Yes, there has been recent trauma on the brain, from the looks of things it was a heavy blow on the upper left side of the head that has caused it."

Reale looked to Teor, that was the percise location she was missing a crest. "Affirmative. Is Teor in any danger?"

If Reale was on her ship right now she would find that the doc had her tongue sticking out the right side of her mouth as she thought about the question. "All brain injuries are serious, no matter how large or small." There was a short time of what sounded like a person arguing with themselves before another response was made. "It does look like her brain is healing but I still want to give her the once over with more sensitive equipment."

The spectre scratched her nose in thought, getting Teor onto the shuttle could mean her mission was going to end before she even completed half the objectives assigned to her. "Doc, how long can you wait for the check."

"How long can Teor wait?" There was some more tapping. "I would say a day or two at the latest but if you keep sending me scans every 17 hours and when a headache, drowsyness or sickly feeling comes over her, I can wait as long as needed."

Reale blinked. "Athame that. Spikes you there?"

A slightly annoyed Gar replied to the Asari. "Yes, and you won't be calling me spikes when I come down there and kick your butt."

"Ha. I'm going to use the Omni-tool I was going to give Teor, and Teor is going to use mine for the scanner. Change channels with effect of this conversations termination."

"Understood."

"Next contact is when I have shelter. Over and out." Reale sighed as she terminated the call, un clapsed the tool from her wrist and slide it along the table. Next bending down she pulled out multiple items from her bag before finding an orange box and also placing it on the table. Opening the orange box it became evident to Teor that it contained medical supplies, the Spectre went though the box and pulled out a small hypo-spray and capsule. Locking the two together she then looked up to Teor. "This is going to nuetrilise the infection on your crest. It's designed to kill the infection quickly and the comfort of the user wasn't in the specifications, It will sting and then feel like its burning for a short duration afterwards. Are you ready for this?" There was no vocal response, only a blink and a small nod. Blinking back to the Asari sat infront of her Reale once again took Teor's head in her hands and manipulated it so the spray could be applied with ease. Without any warnings Reale applied the spray genrously to the entire infected area.

***********8

The spectre exhaled sharply as she tried her drink, it was still far too hot for consumption. Looking back upto Teor once she swallowed the liquid a few moments later she asked "How is the local cuisine?"

There was an instant reply. "Weird, The different mixes of food these guys eat in one meal will make your stomach turn." Just as the older asari was about to speak again Teor who was now looking at the fridge continued. "Actually if you want I'll make you something. I'm starving and I have no idea as to how long she will be out."

The asari who was about to tear into her rations stopped rummaging through her bag and sat back up straight. "Yes please, that would be lovely."

Teor nodded as she stood up and started to work, beans, sausage and toast was what she had in mind. As she worked Teor gained a few of her own questions. "So since I've been stuck here, has anything interesting happened in the wider galactic community?"

"Well, the news hasn't covered much lately after the press discovered what's happened here but from my work links I know a new pre-relay species was found on a slaver vessel during a raid and a few Turian politicians have been discovered buying and mass selling narcotics."

Teor sighed, the news was as cheerful as ever. "Hmm. What's going to happen to the slaves and what does the press know of this place?"

The spectre crossed her legs and leaned back in her chair. "That depends entirely upon how advanced their civilisation is, primitive pre Transistor species usually struggle to learn about the truth of their galaxy and either take their own lives or subcome to server mental conditions if they are integrated into our society, if we can find their home we fill them with a drug to make the entire experience feel like a bad nightmare and return them during the night, if we can't find their home planet, sometimes the kindest action we can take is a lethal doesage of Hashinth, a type of red sand. Post transistor species we refuse to return to their home planet due to speicies like this" While saying 'this Reale nodded in the direction of Pebble. "So we offer them a bunch of credits to live out the rest of their days quietly on a small outpost colony. And the press know a disturbing amount about this place and mission. In fact I will probably need to trace up where the information is coming from when this mission is over."

Teor was shocked at what Reale just told her about the slaves, but she didn't wan't to push so she continued about E561 "Is the leak really that bad?"

"Yeah. Athame, they even know your university and grades."

As the Asari stirred the beans she thought about why any one other than an employer would want to know that piece of information. "Hmm, what do they know about earth then?"

Teor scratched the side of her neck slightly, that was a question indeed. "Basically everything but what the Natives look like and the wild life."

Teor continued to stir the beans as she thought of another question. "Reale, how long do I have to stay on this world?"

"Till my mission is complet..." Both of the Asari are distracted as they hear a loud thump come from the living room. Teor is the first one on her feet and opening the door, what she found was a sight to behold. Pebble had awoken, rolled off the sofa and was now trying to stand, but she seemed to be intoxicated to the point where she couldn't stand. Rushing over to her drunk like human she secured her body in a upright position.

The human struggled to look at her, her eyes moving erratically and her speech slurred. "B-ba-bag! G- gunna.." After speaking the human started to swallow rapidlyw.

Teor recoginised the term bag, she often used it for the plastic things that she brought her shopping in. "Reale, keep her upright." When Reale had her hand on the human Teor quickly got the requested item and just got back to the human before it emptied it's guts in a violent manner, luckily Teor managed to capture most of the ejected stomach contents. When the human was done vomiting it was virtually falling asleep on its knees. After Teor returned from throwing the bag of vomit in the bin outside she found Reale holding up a now unconscious human. "Would you mind helping me put her to bed?"

Reale blinked before both asari worked in a team and hauled the human onto her feet and stabilised her by wrapping her arms around their shoulders, then came the task of getting a human who couldn't control any of her limbs up the stairs, after two steps Reale had enough. "Teor let go." Teor looked suspiciously at the Spectre before doing so, but soon her suspicion turned to understanding as the Spectre placed the human into a biotic lift and seemed to carry the human with ease up the stairs, then after some guiding Teor got the spectre to take the human into her room and rest her on the bed in the recovery position. Then Teor looked around the bedroom for a bin and placed it on the floor by the woman's head.

"Well, if that hasn't put you off food, the beans should be done."

/.../

As Teor put the food on the plates Reale spoke. "So, thought about what your going to say to your mother yet?"

This question broke Teors concentration on what she was doing and a slight too much beans splattered on a plate, but there was more than ample to go around still. "Yes, but I have no idea what to say. A 2 minute video message just doesnt seem enough for all I want to say."

Reale blinked. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I myself only have 2 minutes to get any messages through to my family. On the plus side though, we also get to send a written message."

This raised a one of Teors brows. "Got a spare Terminal going around?"

"Good point, the human not got a digital device you can use?"

Teor shook her head. "No, apparently we can't use anything that has a micro-phone or camera on it due to some sort of lock down put in place when I landed."

"What lockdown?"

Teor shrugged slightly, she didn't know the specifics. "Not sure, just pebble seems to of had prior experience in it."

Reale took a plate from one of Teors hands before responding. "Do you think Pebble was in special forces? Just how she attacked me earlier and the experience of intelligence inception."

Teor released a deep breath, she knew she was military but how high up she didn't know. "Possibly but I've never asked. I'm sure if you ask when she's awake... sober, she will give you an answer."

Reale blinked and then looked down to her food... it certainly didn't look appealing.

/.../

Thanks for reading!


	12. Chapter 12

Hi, longest chapter yet! Enjoy.

/.../

Pebble looked down her binoculars into a Southern Alliance military base, the General her team was sent to eliminate had just come out of his deep underground bunker and was now stretching his legs next to some heavy artillery. As her Ear piece came to life Pebble raised a hand to her ear and pressed the ear piece further down her ear canal. "Flick the switch."

Pebble shook her head before looking down her binoculars again, there was multiple western prisoners of war being unloaded off trucks and multiple ambulances inside trying to treat injured civilians, many of them were children. "Sir, I repeat, there are civilians, many of which children in the blast zone, all I ask is we request an update from Buzz."

There was no response from the man in her ear piece, after a short time passed Pebble started to think he actually got in touch with HQ, but she felt her stomach drop as she realised her squad mate had un-holstered his silenced riffle and was pointing it in her direction. "Sorry Pebble, if I don't it will be me next."

/.../

Pebble sat bolt upright, as long as she had breath in her lungs that memory would always haunt her. Rubbing a hand over her face she found it was covered in sweat, every time she had that memory crop up in her dreams she would always awaken in the same manner, always get to the point where she was betrayed by people she called friends, she would sit upright as the memory of pain flooded her mind, her heart would be racing and she would be covered in sweat, and this time the only exception was she was still clothed in dirty smelly clothes. As she pushed her way to the end of the bed her memories of how she ended off in the bed came back, the intruder. The last she remembered was the scuffle, how in gods name had she gotten on the bed? Pebble looked down to her pants, they were still fastened at the button, that was a relief to the human. Pebble was about to stand off her bed but is forced back down as her knee voices its red hot pain. Even the slightest pressure on her knee was painful, so with a huff at her situation Pebble stood and balanced herself on one leg. Now to get her cane. After pulling the cane out from her closet she made her way silently to Teors room, the asari was absent and her bed looked scuffled. Then a horrifying thought hits Pebble, if the intruder found her? Pebble turned instantly and made her way to the room opposite her own, the one full of memories and the mysterious large metal casing. When she got inside Pebble made her way straight towards case, stopping just infront of it.

Pebble rested her head on the casing, the contents of the case was another reminder of her haunted past, but she could never bring herself to part with the contents, the amount times the items saved herself was beyond counting. Removing her head from the casing a short time later she removed a key from the chain that contained her dogtags around her neck and silently opened the lock. Inside the case there was multiple items, items Pebble knew intimately and could handle with efficiency that scared not only herself but her opponents to no end. With out thinking about it Pebble removed a pistol from the case and loaded a magazine of Radio heads into the gun. Next she took her most trust worthy weapon, an old but by no means any less deadly ACR and loaded yet another full magazine of Radio's. There was one last thing to do before Pebble was ready for the small war she was prepared to wage, her knee was going to be a large issue if she was in hand to hand combat once more, luckily she still had a very limited supply of advanced pain suppressing pills from her days in service, after consuming one she was ready to go. Locking the cupboard behind her she stepped with confidence out of the door and silently made her way down the stairs, her pistol ready in case she came across another intruder.

/.../

Reale squinted as her omni-tool flared up from its dormant state. The main display simply proclaimed four words. 'WARNING! Radiation spike detected." Reale scracthed her head. This was completely unusual and personally a new warning for herself, maybe its a solar flare? No, her ship would of told her if a flare was expected due to communication issues that can arise. Maybe her tool had glitched. After a quick reset the error failed to go away. "Dam it." Reale reached over to the tool she was going to give Teor and picked it up off the table and turned it on. The same error message made its presence known instantly. Expending the error message on Teors tool due to the advanced sensors on it over her own she found out the average background radiation jumped from 0.98uR/Hr to 3.91uR/Hr. While not a dangerous value yet, under prolonged exposure it certainly had the capability to harm. "Teor, suppose you don't know whats causing a radiation spike?" Teor looked up from writing out a letter to her mother on paper and shook her head before looking down again to remember what she was going to write. Standing up she looked outside of multiple windows on the ground floor, there was nothing outside that warranted any of her attention. Sitting back down in the Kitchen Reale was about to phone her ship when she got a call from her ship. Reale wasn't surprised by this, her ship was monitoring every little thing possible, her body temperature, stomachs PH levels, blood pressure, blood composition, blood loss - if applicable and out of the 204 other things they monitored obviously radiation exposure was one of them.

"Rarry speaking."

Gar responded. "Rarry, were detecting a spike of raditation at your current location, can clarify that our detection is legit and not a false reading."

Reale sighed and placed her omni-tool on loud speaker, Teor may, even if she doesnt know directly of the source, could provide data that could clean up some unknowns on the spike. "Yes, I'm getting a reading too..."

/.../

Halfway down the stairs Pebble stopped moving as she heard a foreign voices. As soon as she determined the voices were originating from the kitchen she silently continued her decent till she was at the bottom of the stairs. When she was at the bottom her mind entered a focussed predatory state, she didn't even have second thought about what she was willing to do, or what she was going to do if it was an intruder. After holsering her pistol she pulled the riffle off her back, powered the Cobra sight aid and rounded the corner. Directly in her sight there was two targets sat around the kitchen table, one of them was Teor, the other an unknown, but from the looks of its crest, a friendly. Pebble released a deep breath, lowered her weapon slightly then unintentionally cursed.

/.../

Reale turned to face the human, slightly startled at the fact that it had managed to sneak up behind her and equally concerned that she had let her guard down to a human who looked armed to the teeth. Before she could say anything to Teor in an attempt to calm the alien, the human walked into the kitchen and without saying a word placed her weapons on the kitchen table along with a set of keys and dog tags, then looking up to Teor she said. "Teor, Im having a long shower." Then as quickly as she appeared she left, leaving the two Asari sat looking perplexed at one another. Their own thoughts were broken when Gar, who was still connected on the Asari's omni tool spoke. "Rarry, The radiation has jumped to 7.36 Rads. What ever your near is definitely the source of the spike."

The spectre released a slight sigh. Humans were strange. Then looking back to her omni tool she said. "Does it spike..." Reale waved her tool over the weapons, the only thing that she concluded were the source of the radiation. "Now?"

"Yes, you have hit Element Zero."

Reale blinked and visually inspected the weapons carefully, not wanting to touch them due to the fact these alien weapons could work on complete different system to her own and the fact it was radioactive. "Its the humans weapons. What ever they are made of is causing it."

"Copy that, just try to limit your exposure." Reale smiled to this response, her crew knew her all to well. Yes, if possible she was going to fire a one of these things.

/.../

Pebble turned the hot water on and stood under the head of the shower, yes the water was hot but it wasn't burning. As she stood she hit the wall, cracking a small tile, how had the 2nd asari found her? No it didn't matter, all that mattered was she got in her house and she wasn't prepared for an intruder. If that was any one else she could be dead right now and she would of failed to protect her friend. After hitting the wall again she rested her head on the warming tiles. And why use the Radio heads? She has just exposed every one including herself to radiation known to cause all sorts of horrors. And she's left those weapons on the table. Dam you pebble! And that bloody pink alien waltzing in, attacking and then making its self at home like nothing had ever happened? Pebble sighed and grabbed the soap. "Peb's You know where these thoughts lead. Down a big black hole."

After chastising herself for starting to think dark thoughts Pebble started to wash the sweat gained from her nightmare off her body, and spent special attention to her black, blue and every other possible colour knee. Then when she was satisfied any other filth on her skin was removed she grabbed the shampoo and squirted a large dollop in her right hand before rubbing her hands to spread the lotion. As she did so she started to think slightly clearer. The Aliens have advanced technology, no doubts they have a tracker or something... Then rubbing her hands through her long dark hair she massaged her scalp. But the alien did find her, if they can we must assume humans can. But how much longer is Teor going to stay? The alien looked like it packed light.

Pebble continued to wash her hair, its length had grown since her military days, it now reached slightly past the bottom of her neck, but when wet it reached a few inches further, infact she missed her short cut, washing hair took a few seconds and drying it wasn't a problem, but in this climate her head would freeze in seconds with a short cut, not worth the trade of a fast wash, she could completely understand Teors wish to stay inside and far away from the cold with her hairless scalp. Then thinking back to moments before with the pink alien Pebble laughed, if only she could of gotten a picture of its face, it looked shocked more than anything but it was pure shock.

With that thought Pebble turned off the shower, she had no idea how long she had been in but it was long enough to enter in a fowl mood and leave relaxed.

/.../

When Pebble opened the door to leave the bathroom she came across Teor who was looking uncomfortable, Pebble picked up on this immediately, usually the Asari was mesmerised by her wet hair and often reached to touch it but today she was looking down to the floor trying to avoid eye contact, fiddling with her hands slightly and stuttering on the few words in english she actually knew. "C-can talk me?"

Pebble sighed, she had obviously scared her friendly alien when she took off earlier for the shower. Smiling she took the Aliens hand, lead her up to her room and sat down on the bed. Teor looked to Pebble's hand, she knew Reale give her strict instructions to avoid melding but this was something that needed to be done. With a nod from the human Teor entered her mind with the shallowest possible meld that allowed communication.

/.../

Once Pebble had assured Teor that she was fine, and not angry at herself or the pink alien, Teor left so she chould change, then Pebble made her way back down stairs, the effects of the tablet that she consumed earlier started to wear off so she also took her cane. Getting to the kitchen Pebble found the two Asari sat around the table. As she entered the kitchen she found the pink Asari was giving her weapon a thorough inspection, Pebble concluded she had taken her assault riffle apart, there was a bullet on the table and also a spring, it must of come out and the Asari failed to put it back together properly. Never mind, she knew that gun like the back of her hand and she could put it back together while asleep. As the human walked a bit further into the kitchen Teor gained the spectres attention and gestured to Pebble. "Pebble." She then pointed at the Spectre "Reale."

Pebble nodded and held her hand out towards the pink Asari. "Pebble."

Reale searched the humans face, either Humans had complete different facial expressions to Asari or Pebble was hiding her emotions pretty well, either way it concerned the Asari, if she was hiding her emotions it meant she was uncomforatable with the situation or wanted to hide it for some other reason, if it was different set of expression, then she would seriously struggle to read someones emotions off facial expression on this planet, making any potential interrogations that much harder. Then Reale looked down to the hand that was now hovering halfway between herself and the human. "It is a human greeting of sorts, its like a hand shake."

Reale blinked to her fellow Asari, grateful for the information and took the humans hand. "Reale."

"Raghl." the human blinked and shook, her face still blank of emotion.

"Pebble." After saying the humans name the Asari pulled up her omni tool, which should of been Teors and changed her neural adapter to English. "Pebble, first of all I want to apologise for how I entered your house earlier and attacked yourself. I was..."

The human cut her off with a hand. "Don't worry about it. Now I assume you are here for the lodger?"

Reale nodded and watched the human at the same time, curious as to how she would react to the human gesutre, when there was no sign of any curious or mis understanding from the human she continued. "Yes and more but I can come to that later."

Pebble nodded and sat down, despite having a cane to take most of the pressure off her knee it was very quickly becoming a source of great agony. "Alrighty." This entire conversation felt awkward and forced to pebble, although putting on a 'being shouted in the face by a commanding officer' face wasn't helping the situation at all, so she removed the stoic look and sat back in the chair, relaxing as she did so. "It took you guys long enough to get here."

Reale looked to Teor, how were asari in any way shape or form guys? "Sorry?"

Pebble shook her head. "Never mind. You done with my gun? I would prefer to sit around something slightly less deadly."

The spectre blinked. "Yes and I'm sorry, out of curiosity I took it apart and I believe I have broke it."

Pebble picked the gun up, dismantled it and placed all the components back together in a matter of seconds infront of the Asari. "It takes a lot more than curious hands to break this thing." Then picking up the removed bullet she put it back in the magazine and picked both of her weapons up, hobbled to the sofa and pushed the guns far under, upon her return Pebble sat back down and said. "Anyway, who's up for food and drink? I feel like I could eat a horse or two."

Teor who recognised the term food and drink stood up and made her way to the fridge, Reale and Pebble watching out of curiosity. Eventually when Pebble realised what was happening she was about to stand off her chair and stop the Asari but Teor stopped her from standing and looking accusingly down at her knee. "No good." she then brought a hand to her own chest and said. "food." Pebble was about to protest but Teor stopped her and removed the cane from the side of the table, that way she didn't have the capacity to stand and stop her with out pain.

With a sigh of defeat Pebble turned to look back at Reale who was watching their interactions with a very observant eye. "She cares for you."

Pebble scratched the back of her wet head and pulled a few stray strands from her face. "hmm, and I for her. Anyway, how are you speaking English so fluently?"

Reale smiled, this human, if biologically fit will be the perfect candidate to care for Teor till her mission was complete. "We have technology that changes brain patterns to understand alien languages, I have some of it installed in my brain."

Reale shuddered, The eastern alliance military experimented with mental implants, many of the people who took part in the trials ended off in a state where they didn't know who they were or far worse. "Okay. So you can hear me in fluent English aswell?"

If Reale wanted to spend all day talking about the neural adapted she would tell the truth and say no, but she didn't have the time nor the interest to peruse that line of conversation. "Yes... Pebble, I know we haven't know each other for very long but I would like to ask you a question regarding your past."

Pebble brushed another stray lump of hair out of her eyes before nodding and squinting, curious as to where this question was going. "Okay?"

"When you attacked me earlier, you seemed to know where to hit and did so with a manner that many soldiers I have worked with use. How did you know what you were doing?"

Pebble reached to feel for the dog tags that were usually hanging around her neck as she thought about her career, when she failed to find them she was brought back to reality. "I'm from a group that they send in to do jobs no body else wants to know about or have a part in. After serving with them for 6 years you know how to handle yourself."

At hearing the word 'years' Teor pipped in with some alien words and the Asari who looked ever so slightly confused eventually nodded. "Thank you for telling me."

Pebble nodded and then spoke on a different topic, hoping to not have to expand on any of the other things she ever did. "Yeah no bother. Anyhow what you doing for a bed tonight, A storms comming in and I doubt you are wanting to get picked up in it."

Reale sucked on her tongue in thought, there was a few places she could try for shelter. "There is an abondoned warehouse two gars down the road."

Pebble shook her head, she didn't know how long a gar was but she had an idea of the warehouse she was talking about. "It's not abandoned. Trust me, you go in there and your facing a bunch of people who will happily play with an M-920 cain, a small handheld nuclear warhead launcher."

"A hand held nuclear device?" This concerend the Asari, if these humans ever wanted to join the intergalactic community their military would have to undergo a lot of changes, then again scrap that, there military would have to be reformed from the ground up.

Pebble laughed, it was a laugh filled with sorrow. "Yeah, you have no idea how many times a battle was changed due to one of those bad boys."

The Asari shook her head in disbelief. "You actually fire hand held nuclear devices at one another?"

Pebble could see the shock in the Asari. "That is bland in comparison to some things we use."

This pipped the Asari, what could be worse than a hand held nuclear device? "Which is?"

The human sighed. "Biological and Chemical weapons. Nasty stuff which doesn't just infect people in the blast radius."

The Asari clenched her fists, barely able to believe what she was hearing, these humans needed to be on some sort of list that kept an eye on what they were doing. If they ever went to war it sounds like they would go to no end in order to win.

"Tell me, who did you work for precisely?" The Asari was very curious as to this humans history.

Pebble really didn't want to go any further, so she would answer this one question then change topics completely. "Cerberus, a small black operations group founded for.." Pebble raised her hands to signify she was quoting. "...the best of human interest... just before the war. And yourself? You must be with some sort of special operations to come to this place."

The Asari sighed, she shouldn't tell this human anything, infact she should dispose of her for just knowing she was an alien. "Yes, I come from a special branch that deals with situations that require a special something to fix."

The Asari raised a brow as the human started laughing. "Ha, this place is a little special all right." She continued laughing for a short time, she didn't know exactly why she found it so funny, but she did. Whether it be from what she has seen or experienced it was something that just hit a funny bone inside of herself.

When the human gained her composure once more the Asari spoke again. "You laugh, why is that?"

Pebble shook her head. "You wouldn't understand. Anyway back to your shelter."

The asari rubbed her neck. "Yes, so if the warehouse is not abandoned, where do you suggest I stay?"

"My couch wont have any issues with you camping out on it, although my dog may... if it does, just give me or Teor a shout"

Reale assumed that meant the varren like thing. "That will not be a problem for you?"

Pebble shook her head. If she has one alien sleeping in her house, why not two? "No. Anyway, how long are you ground side?"

"Till my mission is complete."

Pebble raised a brow. "Which is?"

Reale clenched her fists slightly. "Pebble, while I'm on my mission I do not wish to drag Teor arround with me. May I ask yourself to look after her for a short time longer."

Pebble understood that reply perfectly well. It was a mind your own business sort of response and no matter how much she asked she was not going to find out the Asaris mission. "Yeah I don't mind looking after her, Ive already done it for a while now and she's a good lodger, cleans after herself..." Pebble started to ramble about all the good things the Asari did, brining another smile to the Asari's lips, this human noticed things many would just ignore, she would deffinately be a good host for the Asari, but her attention to the Asari's antics also scared her, if this humans got or even has feelings greater than those common with friendship for the Asari it could become decremental. Just as the Asari was about to respond, Teor placed a plate down infront of the human, who looked pleasantly surprised with the plate in front of her. "Teor you know me better than I know my self."

/.../

As the human ate Reale switched her neural adapter back to her native language and looked to Teor who was sat next to the human. "This human talks to you like you understand her."

Teor laughed slightly before her response was made. "You should see her talk to Russell. She seems to have a habit of talking to things even if they dont understand her." There was a short silence before she spoke again. "If you dont mind me asking, what did you speak about?"

"About her past and where I am staying tonight."

"Which is?"

Reale looked to the couch. "The sofa in the living room."

Teor shook her head and clenched her fists quite visibly. "It freezes over during the day never mind at night, and this room drops to minus numbers when the heating is off. No, we can share beds and quilt or something. Anything is better than that sofa."

Reale scratched her jaw, she wasn't going to deny herself a bed if it was presented. "If you are offering..."

"Yes I am."

"Alright then."

"So, what you saying to your mother?"

The Asari didn't know, she already scrapped two letters. "I want to say something along the lines of I'm safe and looking forward to comming home, but every time I write it it just sounds..." Teor released a sigh of frustration, who knew writing a letter could be so hard. "Wrong, like I'm simply.. argh.."

The Spectre reached out for the younger Asari's flailing hands. "Teor, if your mother is anything like my wife, I am sure anything will do, even just a simple 'hey mam, I'm alive and safe, love you.'

Reale blinked knowing it was the truth, all her mother probably wanted was to hear her voice and see her face from the video she was going to send aswell, just anything to know she was safe and alive... It was with that thought that it hit her, yes she was safe and alive, all thanks to Pebble, why not write telling her the story up until this point?" Just as she was about to respond to the spectre revealing her plan Pebble finished her food and was about to stand off her chair. Putting a hand on Pebble's shoulder Teor pulled her firmly down on the chair and firmly said. "No!" Then standing up she took the plate from her hands and took it to the sink, just as she was about to return to the counter Pebble pointed to the cupboard below the sink. "Wine!"

Teor smiled as she grabbed a big bottle and three glasses.

/.../

Tarik rubbed his short stubby hands together in thought as the blue yellow and green planet he was informed of came into the view of his cockpit. There was money to be made off this planet, lots and lots of money. So much money he could swim in it. Turning on the ships internal communication systems after excessively drooling in thought he spoke into a microphone. "E561 is minuets away. Saddle up."

/.../

Hello, thanks for reading this chapter!

Anyhow Just one quick note, my work is going to be taking over my life in the next few weeks, I'm not sure as to how much free time I'm going to have so I'm not sure as to how often I can update this story. My apologies on that. Anyway, just wanted to tell you that I'm not abandoning this story if I'm silent for the next few weeks, just up to my eyebrows with work.

Thanks again for reading, and a special thanks to the followers / favs, and another massive thanks to the those reviewing.


	13. Chapter 13

Hello chaps! been working on this chapter on and off as I get some spare time which has been far from plentyfull as of the last few weeks, but I managed to get a sort of 'to keep you going' chapter made. Its a bit rough around the edges, but I hope you can give me a bit of leeway here, if you want to wait for a bit of a fine tuned version check it out when my next upload goes on. Actually while this is on my mind I have a few things I need to clarify

. Pebble fought for the Western Alliance, I read this back a while ago and it isnt really all that clear. Sorry for that, I'll try to update an earlier chapter to include that, I know updating earlier chapters in that sense is not ideal but i think at this point were too far into the story.

. Last chapter had a few errors with the neural adapter thing, the idea isn't changing, just Reale should of only been able to understand one language when the adapter was active, but I unfortunately over looked a part where she could understand both English and Asari, this was from an earlier draft of the chapter and not updated for some reason or another... So yeah, sorry and that will be fixed soon.

. As you might be able to tell from the last point, this story is entirely in my head, I know roughly where its going and what's going to happen (Up to one very critical point in the story... in other words I'm very torn between two dramatically different endings.) Anyway some errors are going to crop up because of this but I'll do my best to catch them.

Finally, 2 possibly 3 weeks more and my work should die out again, so my usual once a week scheme will return shortly.

Happy reading.

/.../

Dom sat lazily in his chair with a newspaper covering his face from the roofs lights, this assignment was supposed to be exciting and fun, with aliens invading and all the other fun things he was promised when debriefed, not sat baby sitting some scientists working on a top secret project of some sort. Dom grumbled as he continued to internally sulk about the assignment. What had his team done to deserve this punishment? They executed every mission perfectly and without questions asked, everything that had ever been asked of him and his team they had achieved.

"Captain Markinth?"

Dom sat bolt upright, removed the paper and looked to the person who called his name. It was brass of some sort. A guy who he had never seen before but most importantly, some one who he didn't take orders from. "Yeah?"

The General who stood infront of the soldier handed him a folder, when he was done reading it he eventually spoke. "Cerberus is being shut down till it is services are required once again."

Dom looked from the General to the documents in his hand, this had to be joke. After checking and rechecking the authorisation code multiple times he eventually replied. "What's to happens to my men?"

The General turned and started to walk, getting the hint Dom stood and followed, when he was by the Generals side the man's response was made. "Are you aware of the GIN program ran by the Southern Alliance?"

"Yes."

"So you are aware that there is 3 tiers, 1 through to 3?"

Dom rubbed his shaved head as he replied. "Yes, my men and I have had a fair share of running's with the three's. They are some tough SOB's, nearly got the better of us on multiple occasions."

The General nodded as he walked towards his office. "Are you also aware of..." The General is silenced by a beeping originating from Dom's mobile device. Dom, hearing the beeping stops walking with the General and answers the call, as far as he was concerned he still worked for Cerberus for a few more days till the organisation was actually shut down.

The second Dom picked up his phone he knew he was about to be called out on a mission, because the second he had the ear piece to his ear a list of numbers were listed, or more precisely, his teams activation code was spoken. When the code was finished Dom confirmed his identity with his own personnel code and then awaited for his assignment.

/.../

Dom rushed into the control room of the base he was stationed at, two of his men was already there. Making his way over to his men he found them staring at a green screen, on the screen there was 1 large blimp, every few seconds the blimp would move towards the centre of the screen. After making sure the blimp, or hostile, was legit Dom looked to his closest team mate. "Jack, I want eyes on the target, I want 2 predator drones in the air with Raptors armed with Promethean missles ready to in two and I want eyes on when it emerges through the atmo." Then looking to his next team mate as the other got to work he started barking orders again. "I want the team ready to roll in 2. Get the fastest transport this base has."

The soldier he barked his orders too nodded, as he was about to give yet another set of orders a man Dom had seen occasionally observing the base strolled in and placed a document in Doms hands. "Orders from the top."

Once the ritual check of the authorisation codes was complete Dom turned to another of his men, many of which were reporting for duty from their various activities on the base. "Rich, get this suit in combat kit. He is over looking the mission from the ground side." Then looking around to the rest of his team who was now busy gearing up he spoke loudly so he was heard by all his men. "We move in 1."

/.../

The second the ship landed on the planet, Tarik lowered the cargo bays ramp and made his way down to the cargo bay to give his men a few words before he sent them off to do as they pleased. Getting into the cargo bay the Volus smiled, his men were ready to roll, just a few hours and he would be floating in money. Getting to a loud speaker the Volus spoke, his speech broken by his loud and short breaths. "Remember, its 150 for a male, 170 for a female, 250 for a male child, 300 female child and 500 for a pregnant female. Now go, and get rich."

As the multiple Krogan, Salarian and Turian mercenaries under his hire rushed off the ship he turned around and made his way to his room in order to think more of his up coming fortunes in peace and quiet.

/.../

Dom watched live feeds of the vessel that landed ten minutes ago, his fears and wishes both came true in one, the Aliens were hostile and from the looks of things pillaging the small rural village the ship landed near. Looking over his men who looked as ready as ever he smiled and made his voice heard over the ships engines. "Prepair to drop. Anything that isn't human is hostile. Exercise extreme prejudice."

As the transport got ever closer to the town under attack Dom got on the radio to the Predator operators. "My men are dropping ground side in two teams at two locations, the first team, Alpha is dropping 500 meters at -13 degrees north from the alien vessel, the second team, Beta, 500 meters east of the town. I want you to provide fire support to team Beta if and when required."

When he got confirmation from the drones pilots he looked to his men as he lowered the transports ramp. "If any one catches a live prisoner you get to buy me a pint. Team 2 get going."

/.../

2 Hours later.

Reale sat bolt upright as she heard her omni tool beep. It was some ridiculous time in the morning, if her crew were getting in touch now it must be important. With loud grumble the Asari picked the call up, placed it on loud speaker and laid back down, as she did so she forgot all about the other Asari she was sharing a bed with "It's early!"

The doctor of the ship, Reale's 3rd in command, replied. "Sorry, but something of great concern is erupting on E561."

Reale rubbed her eyes in an effort to awake. "How great."

There was a small silence. "Enough for the council to directly end this mission."

Reale sighed, once again nothing about this mission was going to plan. "What's happening?"

"A battle is being raged in a small town near the third quadrant. It appears to be a native-extra-terrestrial conflict."

Reale didn't have to be awake to know what that meant. Slavers or worse. "What!? How did they get into this system never mind past our own sensors?" There was a small silence as her brain frantically thought about the situation. "How are the humans fairing?"

There was a soft chuckle from the doctor. "From our point of view it looks like the natives are giving the slavers some of their own medicine. It looks like they knew they were coming and had a fully equipped welcome party for them. And we have no idea how they got here never mind past us."

Reale rubbed her forehead, maybe the leak that was providing all the information on this planet also had a hand in this. "Get the council to vet every member of my crew again. Also make sure your intercept any vessel leaving the planet, if they escape the humans."

"And if they don't?"

Reale smiled at the thought of that outcome. "I have a feeling they will wish they never came to this planet." The Spectre thought some more, the more she thought the more she enjoyed the earlier train of thoughts. "No, they decided to come here under the radar, let them stay under the radar."

"Copy that. Oh and I have the medical analysis on the human."

Reale turned on her bed and hugged her pillow, half wishing it was her wife. When she was comfy she replied. "Go on."

There was some tapping heard before the Asari was heard speaking again. "Well, in short its only by Athames hand that she is alive. From the looks of things she has a lab grown left leg from just above the knee, she has been shot multiple times, including the grown left leg, above and below knee, spinal column and a third in the kidney, her body is losing its fight against Terrins disease, which from the scan of that bullet, I am more than 99% sure is the cause of the disease. To top it all off her liver looks like its taken a beating over the years, alot of scar tissue. Rarry, if she was an Asari and had all this with out treatment, I would give 6 months before she is on deaths bed, the computer, 7."

Reale knew that dragging Teor arround while she attempted to complete her mission would be a large pain in the behind, origianlly she had planned for her to get picked up, but with the humans knowing she as ground side and their more than likely hyped hostilities due to the slavers, she agreed with Gar that she should only get picked up when they wanted to come home for good. "How will her health fair for the next 6 or 7 weeks."

"Turbulent at best. Enough to care for Teor? Probably. Any longer, questionable. From experience I think she is about to embark on a long downhill slope."

"I don't plan on being here any longer than 6 weeks. See if you can hack the humans computers, see what you can find out about one Pebble Collins living at..." it took the Asari a while to think of the name of her current location. "...16 Tamol? or something alike."

There was a light chuckle from the Doctor. "Gar beat you to it. Photax somehow found a file earlier for your inspection, infact he managed to get access to something they call internet, very similar to our extra-net."

The sleepy Asari grunted in approval. "hmm... Well?"

"A female human called Ellie Collins owns the house, 34 years of age, Discharged from military service after she was pronounced unfit for duty 3 years ago - unsurprisingly medical reasons were the cause of discharge. Other than that she is an otherwise unremarkable human, no other jobs, hasn't cast a vote in multiple years, her internet history is non existent, she has it... but no salvageable data to call on, like everything she does online is deleted, anyhow very few photos we could find. She appears to enjoy the secretive life."

Reale sighed lightly, wasn't the human here called Pebble? Maybe its a pronunciation thing. "Anything unusual about her military history?"

There was some humming. "If unusual you mean that she has a very large retirement fund and next to nothing written in her military history other than cause of discharge, then yes."

"She said she was apart of a military group called Cerus or Cerbs or..."

Reale was cut off by Teor. "Cerberus." The spectre sat straight up in bed to look for the source of the second voice, when she realised it was Teor, and she had more than likely heard the entire conversation she lowered her body back down, there was no point in moving now, she probably had heard all the classified stuff.

"Cerburus... Cerburus... Is that with a S or a C... Ah Cerberus, with a C and a E not a U. A Mystic 3 headed dog, what ever that is, which gaurds the entrance to the underworld. Greek mythology, from sometime referred to 2000BC." Reale looked to Teor in an expecting manner, hoping for some insight to the time period but when the younger Asari shrugged Reale cuddled back into her pillow. "Oh here is something. Western Black Ops group and all that yadiyah?" Without waiting for a Reply the Doc continued. "Basically a speculation website claims the western alliance has a black ops group called Cerberus, which has had its hand in multiple chemical attacks,... high risk missions,... behind enemy lines sabotage, hard intelligence inception... and that sort of thing. From what I can tell its a military group from the west that does not directly answer to the western government or something alike. People on the native extranet fear it can go rogue for its own causes. Basically from the sounds of things its the Salarian STG."

"Hmm, and if Pebble is from this..."

The spectre is silenced by the Doctor. "The alien vessel is taking off." Reale groaned and sat up on the edge of the bed, just before she could reply Doc spoke again. "Athame, its... gone."

Reale squinted, that could mean a one of many things. "Is the ship destroyed?"

"Yes..." there was some rapid tapping heard before the doctor spoke again. "...there is nothing left, its just gone"

Reale rubbed her temples. "Reale, did it explode on its own accord or did the humans destroy it?"

The Doctor could be heard tapping some more. "It appears a native vessel shot it down as it was about to accelerate to orbital velocity."

"Good... good." After hearing the good news Reale laid back down on the bed. If the vessel exploded on its own accord it more than likely meant the Eezo core went critical, the resultant explosion would of covered the entire planet in Eezo radiation, and the direct result of that would have more than likely of been council action on this world. Humans were still attempting to cure Terrins, Humanity in no way, shape or form would have the knowladge, capability or experience to deal with the resultant medical crisis they would face. Reale starting to feel the cold biting at her skin laid back down and got comfy once more, the second she was happy she spoke quietly. "Doc, find out the name of the vessel that visited this planet and release a document to the press about it experiencing a technical difficulty during a jump, there was no survivors."

"And if the humans captured any aliens during the battle?"

Reale shrugged before responding. "Then they will live out the rest of their lives as lab pyjaks for the humans. And the rest of the galaxy will be better off."

"Understood."

/.../

30 mins later.

Dom knelled down in front of his latest trophy, it was a butt ugly alien that had a hard exterior and pointy things on its head, fortunately for him and his team it was knocked out from a concussive shot and had sustained next to no damage other than a cut or scrape on its hard skin like plating. When one of his team mates came from behind and spoke, the hardened veteran jumped slightly but quickly brushed it off. "2 Wounded, one critical one superficial 0 KIA. 4 civilians KIA, 9 with wounds, 7 critical, 2 superficial. 12 Dead aliens, 3 alive, including that thing." After speaking the marine from behind kicked the alien on its foot. " One of those tank like things and one of those big eyed skinny buggers. All 3 look like they are in good condition."

There was a slight nod from the Vet. "Has Jenny dispatched medical teams?"

"ETA 4 mins."

Dom stood from his observations and called over one of his men who was resting on a wall, while keeping a very careful eye on the Alien Dom was just kneeling next to. "I don't want this thing to be able to even move a finger with out my permission. Make it so."

The marine stood with a large grin, he was more than happy to make Dom's wish come true. With out taking his eyes off the Alien he replied with a strong German accent "With Pleasure."

Next turning to the marine that give him a casualty count he spoke while looking in the direction where the tank like alien was fallen. "Do the same to the skinny alien and the Tank, but treat the tank as if it was so, treble the restraints.".

/.../

/.../

So hope that keeps you going.

Thanks for Reading!


	14. Chapter 14

And I'm back! My work has died back down to normal / just below normal levels so I can spend more time on this!

A quick note on last week. An updated version with grammar corrections and what not of chapter 13 will be going on-line soon after this is posted! if not tonight as its getting a bit late probably early on tomorrow.

Anyway enough of my yapping.

/.../

When Reale first awoke later on in the morning she expected to be the first in the house up, however her theory of being first awake was destroyed when she found Pebble in the kitchen sharpening multiple knives. Resting on the hob directly behind her was the rest of the contents from the metal case, this included 2 Assault riffles, 4 SMG's, 2 hand guns, 1 high powered riffle, a collection of various grenades and explosives, weapon attachments and ammunition. Reale give a greeting before pulling a chair up to the table, grabbing her bag and removing a small ration pack. As she tore the ration bag open she eyed all the weapons, the human certainly liked her guns.

As her eyes continued to wander she came across an unusual looking bullet, it had multiple inscriptions written along it, a thick detachable base and a hole drilled directly though it a few millimetres from the bottom, after a few moments of looking at it Pebble spoke. "Capture wasn't an option."

Reale looked at the human, what was that supposed to mean? "Sorry?"

Pebble removed her dog chains and passed them with the bullet to the Asari. "It was my last bullet, I hung it around my neck."

Finally understanding the Asari nodded slightly and took the items. After a reluctant but some what thorough inspection she had a few more questions. "This base, it's... not normal."

Pebble didn't look up as she continued to sharpen a blade she called twig due to its tiny size. "Self fire mechanism. No gun required."

The Asari blinked slightly, she had heard of similar Turian devices but had never seen one with her own eyes, and often wondered if in an hypothetical situation where she had her own device, if she would be able to carry out the deed, a short time later she spoke again. "And what does the text mean?"

Pebble looked up, smiled and then said. "It says 'For Early Retirement, No Refunds'."

Reale sighed and put the bullet back down, it was just one more thing she had to warn the Council of, soldiers who take suicide over capture. "Could you have done it?"

Pebble breathed in before saying. "When I first joined Cerberus I would of said no, but after serving for a while I learned what happened to captured Cerberus personnel. Now, I will not go on a mission without it."

After eyeing all the weapons again Reale asked "Are you planning a mission now?"

There was a shake of the head from the woman. "No." When Reale give the weapons a quick glance again Pebble give her an answer to a question she was about to ask. "Since you managed to find me and Teor I am now to assume that others can too, and when they come, the last thing I want is for my equipment to fail me." After speaking Pebble slid Twig back into its sheath, while grabbing another blade and a different grade water stone Pebble spoke again "Now about this secretive mission of yours. When you leaving for it."

Reale looked out the kitchen window and into the storm outside. "When the storm ends."

"So no time soon. Good. I want to show you something first, but it will have to wait till tonight."

Reale squinted slightly, what of any use could the human show her?. "Which is?"

Pebble laughed to herself slightly before saying. "Humanity at its greatest. And a few things to help you get by."

"Very well."

"Excellent." Pebble then threw the Asari one of the watches she had out on the table behind her. "Be ready to move by 2100."

The Spectre looked at the watch and then to Pebble. "2100?"

The human shook her head. This Asari was going to get herself killed. "9 on the small clock hand once mid-day passes." There was a slight pause before Pebble continued. "By any chance are you going to be infiltrating any military complex's?" The Spectre give a look that said simply said yes, however it also showed her hesitation to say anything. "Hey look. I don't care what you have come here to do, but what I do care about is Teor getting home, and you running off and getting yourself killed by rushing into your mission is not going to help that happen."

"And if I said yes?"

Pebble nodded and leaned back in her chair. "I would say that you are very poorly prepared for this mission, and then tell you to stick around for a few days and I'll help you catch up with the lingo and what not to get bye on this planet. And I'll even throw in the added bone of getting in touch with some people who many know the location of what your looking for. And my bet is your either looking for lost technology or Teors shuttle mates." The alien in the room give a quick nod, to which Pebble immediately spoke. "And your nod, slow it down and move it less, how your doing it now will catch people's eye."

The spectre felt like a pupil chastised for acting up, but also slightly annoyed, she had spent so many hours researching humans and from the sounds of things, it wasn't enough and she was going to have to spend even more time learning how to act enough like a human to integrate into their society with no eye lids battered. However the mission was already about to over-run the allotted time for it. "I'll think about it."

Pebble reached forward and grabbed her cup of tea that had been cooling on the table. After a refreshing sip she replied. "I'm sure you will realise how much you need it after today."

"Possibly... Moving on, I'm surprised I'm not the first up."

Pebble give a slight shrug and placed her tea back down on the table. "Naa. Usually I awake at 5, walk Russell and then go to the gym, but today my knee's the size of a football so I'm showing my gear a bit of love."

"Your knee, is it serious?"

Pebble snorted slightly and shook her head slowly. "Define serious."

"Is it chronic?"

Pebble smiled slightly, but it wasn't a one of joy, more of sad amusement at her upcoming comment. "Chronic for about one more year if I'm lucky."

The spectre tilted her head, that answered something regarding the humans health she hadn't asked yet. "So you know."

Pebble sighed and took another drink of her tea before saying. "What? That I'm being irradiated from the inside by hundreds of microscopic bullet pieces that are extremely hard to remove? Yes."

The spectre placed her food back down on the table and looked the human in the face. "I know it mustn't mean a lot to you right now, but I'm sorry."

Pebble shook her head again. "Don't kid yourself, right now all I am too you is an asset. As soon as this mission is over you will ship back to your home planet and be all merry, no second thoughts about this damned rock, and I can't blame you for doing so, relatively, I have done the same many times before." There was a short silence as the two exchanged looks. The stare down was only broken as Pebble passed the Asari a Assault riffle. "Since I have my weapons out you maze well see what you are going to face if you exchange fire with us."

/.../

Tevos sat on the edge of her bed, her hands were shaking and her hearts rhythmic beat could be felt as if it was a krogan jumping on her chest. Closing the webpage she had just been on down she immediately opened her emails, or more precisely her mothers, and as she hoped she found an email from a government adress, the email address of the spectre sent to retrieve her sister. Opening the email with hands that where nearly blurred from the amount of shaking she held her breath, and then read the first line. When the words were digested by her brain she couldn't help the cry that escaped her lips, raising her hands to her face a second later she wiped away the tears and tried to read the rest of the email, several failed attempts later due to blurry vision from tears she skipped the text and simply replayed the short video from her sister, when it ended she played it again, and again, and again. After what felt like the hundredth time Tevos closed the email and tried to calm herself to a point where she could speak to her mother, when she felt she had gained the composure to do so she got off her bed and went to the place her mother had made refuge for the past few weeks, Teors bedroom.

Opening the door to Teors bedroom Tevos looked straight to the bedrooms window, and as expected her mother was sat on Teors bed looking out the window and to the mountains in the distance. Closing the heavy wooden door behind herself, Tevos quietly made herway to her sisters bed and sat down. Once Tevos sat besides her mother, Consta, she turned and looked at her, noticing the girls wet eyes Consta raised her hands and gently cupped daughters face. Speaking quietly and softly once she made eye contact she said. "You have been crying."

Tevos blinked at her mother before taking Consta's hands into her own. "Yes, but tears of joy mamma." at seeing her mothers curious look Tevos spoke again, her voice no more than a whisper. "The spectre has found Teor, she is alive." Before the younger Asari knew what was happening all she felt was her lungs being emptied of air as her mother pulled her into a hug so strong she was sure her ribs were going to break, then as quickly as she felt herself being pulled into the hug her mothers grip slackened off and her body started to uncontrollably convulse, at first Tevos thought her mother was crying so hard she lost control of herself, but when she fell back onto the bed, her eyes rolling and all her limbs shaking she knew it was serious.

/.../

Pebble pulled the Spectre to the side before entering the building they had spent the last twenty minutes waking to, or in Pebble's case, severly limping to. "Look, in here you are going to find people from all the walks of life, the good, the bad..." Then thinking of her old cerberus squad she added. "and the dam right ugly, just no matter what happens, you need to keep your cool. Kay?" There was a nod and a blink from the Asari. "Good. When we go in, go to the bar, wait for the barman to speak and order two drinks, I'll have a Guiness, yourself what ever you fancy. Use the green note I give you to pay, then when you get the drinks bring them over to the table in the far corner." After a quick blink of conformation the human turned on her heel and walked into the building with the Asari in pursuit.

When Reale walked into the pub she immediately had mixed feeling about the place, first of all she had an immediate dislike for it, there was lots and lots of humans inside, some of who were dressed in military kit, and then there was the fact the place smelt of something strange, she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was, however she also liked how the place looked, it was small and cosy with a very relaxed look and there was some music playing in the back ground that was just loud enough to fill the blanks between conversations, but the thing she liked the most about the place was how different it was from her own culture, the roof was held up by large wooden beams, the walls had colour and decorations, people were drinking with friends and were all in their own little world. It was a place she would certainly enjoy back home. As soon as she took another step into the building she instantly found the bar, walking up to it she stood awkwardly away from everyone else and waited for the barman to serve her.

"Ellow pet, wat can a get ya?" It took the spectre a short time to realise the barman was speaking English, and then another short duration to realise he was speaking to herself. "One Guinness and..." And then it hit the Asari, she had no idea what she was to order for herself, if she went to this bar with someone else she would of looked very odd attempting to order a drink when she didn't know what there was to order. "Actually, make that two."

The barman grabbed two pint glasses and started to pour away, as he did so Pebble made a mental note that the big golden pump thing covered in condestation housed multiple drinks. When the first pint was nearly half filled the barman spoke again. "Glorious weather like aint it?"

What? How was the weather outside in any way shape or form glorious. "Erm yes?"

"Aye, d reackon we suposed t get a foot or two, meself, I think they aint nee idea what d talkin aboot."

Reale clenched her fists. This man could not be speaking English, in fact why was he speaking to her in the first place? All she wanted was the two drinks, without the chit chat. "Possibly."

"Aye. Anyway, ya aint been in here befor, new in town?"

Reale's internal alarms started ringing, how did he know that? "How do you know?"

As the man placed the first pint on the bar he nodded in the direction of the door. "How ya look aroond da place when ya open tha door n the fac ya stanin oura here away frm d others."

"Oh."

When the second pint was pored the man put the pint with the second and went to the till. "Tha ill be for fory."

After handing over the money Reale went to pick up the drinks, however before she could turn with the pints the Barman spoke one last time. "Hey pet, ya forget ya back moola."

Reale looked at the man, put a pint down and collected the coins before silently making her way back to Pebble, getting at the table she put the drinks down and sat opposite the human. "This place is... unique."

Pebble blinked at the Asari. "It's what we call a pub. A place for people to drink and forget about the wonderful miseries that plague life."

"Okay, so what are we doing here."

Pebble took a large swag of her drink, for her it had been too long since she had a good cold Guinness. "Reale, in human society, you are what we class as a looker, meaning men, and some women, will struggle to keep their eyes off you. Now I doubt I need to tell you of the problems that is going to cause, so we could either try to change your looks to something less attractive, which wont help when you do have to interact with humans, or you can learn how humans interact with one another and look a slight bit more at home on this planet, your choice."

The Asari's shoulders slumped slightly as she thought, eventually she came to a conclusion on the situation. "It doesn't look like I a choice if I want this mission to go smoothly.."

Pebble took another large swag before replying. "Dam right you don't. So first thing first, as you look human, the first thing people are going to use to judge on after looks will be your antics, interactions and communication style. So to help me out here, I'm meeting with some friends in about... 15 mins time." Pebble, immediately seeing the look of concern on the Asari's face waved a hand in dismissal. "Dont worry, a quick 5 min prep talk and you'll be as good as gold." After taking another quick drink and putting the glass down she continued. "Now, the basics, what's your back story?"

"A Physicist from Tesas, no children, studied at Osford, 36 years of age."

"Name?"

"Ryanna Hepsin."

Pebble shook her head. "And what do you specialise in?"

The Asari tilted her head. "Everything."

There was a laugh escape the humans lips. "Humans don't have thousands of years to completely specialise in the subject they study. 99% of us specialise in one or two small topics of a subject. What do you know of astrophysics?"

Reale knew abit on that topic, after all she does have to command a star ship. "Enough to get me bye."

"Good, so now your an astrophysicist. And your not from..." Pebble raised her hands to quote. "...Tesas... Your accent is wrong on so many levels I dont know where to start. So your not from TeXas but a place called Lagvatnet, an Norwegian island, dont worry about the fine details for now, I'll get you them later on. The reason you are here is to visit myself, after we got to know each other when I was stationed on the island you come from, how did we meet? In a pub like this watching the world cup." The Pebble instantly saw the confusion on the Spectre's face. "It's stuff like that which will catch you out. The World cup is usually referring to football, where multiple nations compete to be the victor. Oh and your uni, its OXford with a strong X"

There was a look of realisation on the Asari's face. "You mean that game where you kick the ball?"

Pebble nodded. "That's the one."

"I was lead to believe it was called soccer."

There was a waft of the humans hand. "Soccer, football, footy. It all means the same. If you say Soccer here however, people will give you a funny look and then a lecture on why its Football and not Soccer, but over the pond its Soccer and not Football, but learn either one, it will get you bye."

There was an unsure nod from the asari as she said. "Okay."

Pebble blinked and then took another swag from her glass, then she noticed the Asari hadn't even touched her drink. "Something wrong with it?"

Reale, following Pebble's line of sight replied. "It... smells like ufeigh."

Pebble give a curious squint, what was efeigh? after a few seconds of musing over the possibilities she came to the conclusion she didn't want to know. "I would be lying if I said it wasn't an acquired taste. Err... You guys like fruity stuff yeah?" Another blink and nod. "Right, erm..." Pebble took another green note out and handed it to Reale. "Ask for an original Pear Magners, or if you don't want alcohol get freshly squeezed orange juice. Make sure you say freshly otherwise you get out the bottle rubbish."

"Is a drink vital for this meeting?"

Pebble smirked before leaning back in her chair. "One of the people you are going to meet is from Cerberus. Up to you if you want to risk it with the people who are tasked with the job of hunting you down."

Pebble had to contain the laugh as best as she could at the Asari's face, it was a mix between anger and fear, before she could reassure the Asari she hissed. "You have invited Cerberus?"

There was a confident nod from Pebble. "Yes, oh and I would avoid saying that name tonight, people who know about the group tend to go missing and relax, the chap is a good friend who has saved my bacon more than once, and its a good chance for you to see what you are going directly up against." The asari scowled before standing up and making her way back to the bar with the irritating barman.

/.../

When Reale returned her eyes nearly boggled out of her head, sat next to Pebble was one large, correction, massive human and two slightly smaller, but by no means not huge themselves, additional humans. As she approached the table with her newly acquired pear Magners Pebble spoke. "Ryanna, this is Dom, Harry, the guy I told you about and the big chaps Rhino. Guys, this is Ryanna."

Harry slightly waved his hand. "Hope you've been told good things."

The Asari took a moment to gather her thoughts before replying. "Yes, I believe so. And good to meet you." After speaking she put her drink down next to Pebble's and sat opposite Rhino, as she sat Pebble said. "So, you guys just happened to be in the same pub at the same time or what?"

Dom rubbed his under chin slightly. "You know me Peb's I want to know where my men are at all times, and after an incident last night, I thought we all deserved a pint, so me and Rhino followed Harry here and the rest will be showing their face shortly."

Pebble nodded before adding. "Incident?" with a raised brow.

As Dom replied Reale felt her omni-tool vibrate, but under her circumstances she ignored it. "Yeah, a real messy job. Anyhow, you know I can't say anything now your out the team."

There was one thing he could tell her however. "Casualties?"

"Harkin's."

Pebble solemnly nodded, she got along well with Harkin's when she was in the team, in fact she once had a small fling with the guy for a few days. "I hope he got a quick one." She could tell off Rhino's face it wasn't a easy death. "Oh well." Raising a pint she continued. "To Harkins."

At feeling a slight nudge from Pebble Reale raised her glass and chinked the rest of the group, in truth she had no idea what she was doing, just hoping it looked normal. Once the chinking was done however she wished they were chinking again as Harry said. "So Ryanna, I hear your from Lagvatnet. Must have thick skin to live there."

Reale squinted slightly before Pebble spoke. "It's a saying, meaning you must be tough to live there."

The Asari nodded before adding. "Yes, the environment is very harsh. How about your self? Where do you live?"

Harry scratched his head before replying. "Ah... erm...I live in a van."

Pebble shook her head. "Your telling me you still have that old banger?"

Harry looked like he took offence to this. "Hey, that van is no banger."

"Does it still cough black smoke every time you start it?" Harry looked like he was going to argue but then he nodded. "Admit it. It's a banger."

As the humans continued to talk Reale silently made mental notes to herself, noting down anything of interest or useful information about their methods of communicating.

/.../

3 hours later after the group parted ways.

As soon as Pebble and Reale was out of the Ceberus members audible range Pebble spoke for the first time since leaving the pub. "Shit. That did not go to plan."

Reale, who thought the night went quite successful despite the bar fight and drunken slob who kept attempting to hit on her squinted in curiosity. "How come?"

"One word. Dom." There was a moments silence before she continued. "The plan was for you to meet just Harry, Dom is one of those people who is very sensitive to details, I suppose were lucky he didn't ask too much of yourself."

There was a slight cock of Reale's head. "I did sense some... hostility between you two."

Pebble sighed as she sat down on a wall, giving her knee a rest. "We have a very complex history. Anyway, those are the buggers you may have to fight. What do you think?"

Reale scratched her head, her wig becoming irritable on her sensitive crest. "Rhino is very big."

Pebble nodded. "Yeah tell me about it. Just if you ever do fight him, keep your distance and your attacks quick."

As the Asari blinked as she felt her tool vibrate again, possibly for the fourth or fith time tonight since she met the others in the pub. After changing her neural adapter to Galactic and making sure there was no one around Reale answered the call. "Rarry speaking."

The person at the opposite side of the line was Gar. "Rarry, The council is demanding to speak to you."

Reale, knowing this wasn't going to be short looked to Pebble and then said. "I'm out on the street, tell them 5 minutes and I'll be free to talk."

"Understood."

/.../

**12 minutes later, Pebbles home**.

Reale initiated the call back to her ship as soon as she was in the house, Gar, who had been sitting and waiting at the console dedicated to communications picked up immediately. "Rarry?"

"It's me. Sitrep?"

Gar took a short inhale before saying. "The Council have been on my ass all day over this Slaver vessel, but as I don't have spectre authority they are telling me very little. All I do know is that its about the Slavers and they want to speak to you about it."

"Fine put them through."

"One minute, They want to do the full video thing that they do, the tool you were going to give Teor doesn't have the program or security features required so I'll send them to you now."

As the Asari waited for the programs to download and install she checked on Teor, who seemed quite content watching some black and white silent human film while eating some snack and stroking the varren... dog... thing. Then walking back into the kitchen she placed her tool on the counter top and positioned it so when the video came through, it could transmit a video of her upper body back to the council and at the same time erect a 3d hologram of the council chamber in front of herself.

It was a few more minutes before her tool beeped and the hologram formed infront of herself, displaying all but the Salarian council members, after Reale give an initial greeting the Councillors got straight to the point of the conversation. "Reale, so far your mission appears to be a disaster, first of all your 3 weeks behind schedule next we have the fact a slaver vessel managed to find E561 and then you have a leak so large even Teor's message was in the news before her family found out about her."

Reale turned to face the Asari councillor who spoke. "Granted my mission is behind schedule but after todays events I feel like this is not a mission we can rush into, and is more than likely going to over run by a few more weeks yet. This planet has just finished a war that I do not intend to reignite by rushing. The slaver vessel is a disturbing truth that I intend to follow up on after I return to my vessel and I have already made a request for you to revet my crew."

It was the recently elected Turian councillor, a man who is privy to spectre operations due to the fact he once was a spectre himself to speak next. "To be fair Athame, Reale was ground side during leaks and the Slaver vessel was more than likely to have black market technology to slip under the Little Bird's sensors." Reale blinked and nodded to the Turian in thanks for his input.

Athame scowled slightly before continuing. "The reason for this meeting is primarily to discuss how to proceed after Humans interaction with the slavers. We are torn on a set of actions but before we do anything we want your opinion on how the humans will react to yesterdays events."

Reale rubbed her temples in thought and then an idea hit her. "Councilors, as you probably know, Teor has been looked after by a human over the last few weeks, I believe it would be more constructive to have her input on this."

Athame replied to this comment. "Yes about this human. Can you trust her?"

Reale scratched her crest before saying. "She has kept Teor alive for the past few weeks and is showing me some things to help go unnoticed on this planet, I believe she is trustworthy."

the two councilors looked to one another before Nivieon spoke. "And you believe she can provide useful information."

"Yes. She seems to know how the military on this planet works inside and out."

"Very well. Bring her before us."

Reale blinked before saying. "Of course. However first you will require a program to understand her language first."

Athame replied. "We have already acquired a translation program."

The Spectre blinked before turning to find the human, as she did so she pondered on why the council would have gained a translation program to speak with humans.

/.../

Thanks for reading and sticking with me over this period of downtime! and Cheers to the followers / favs and a super massive thanks to FranticHampster for the persistent reviews! You are awesome!


	15. Chapter 15

Sorry about the slightly late update, the reason for it being late is entirely my fault, with the Steam sale and gamespy servers shutting down in 2 days now (the 30th) I've been making the most of some old favourites such as Command and Conquer and time just crept by unnoticed, oops, my bad.

/.../

The Turian councillor flared his mandibles and rubbed his jaw before saying to the Asari Councillor. "It looks surprisingly like your own species."

Pebble squinted slightly before making her voice heard. "Personally, I would say you look like ourselves. Oh and by the way the name is Pebble." The spectre in the room give Pebble a look off screen that implied for her to calm herself, but Pebble didn't care, they wanted information off her and if they were going to treat her like a dog then she would be as frustrating and blunt as she wanted.

The councillors briefly exchanged partially surpised and partially annoyed glances before the Turian looked back towards her and said. "Pebble..." The Turian chuckled slightly, the word Pebble, or a similarly pronounced word, to his own species meant the same as flatulence. "Are you aware of an incident on your own planet regarding some extraterrestrial slavers?"

Pebble quickly glanced at Reale, slightly in annoyance as her understanding of Dom's messy incident came to light. "Yes. But I am unaware of the small details."

"All you need to know is that slavers landed on your planet and attempted to abduct some of your people, your authorities put an abrupt end to this despicable crime." Pebble nodded as she understood exactly what that meant, especially as her old team dealt with it. "What we want to speak to yourself about is how your authorities will react to this incident."

The human exhaled slightly out her nose and shook her head before saying. "Do you really need to ask me that?" From the confused looks she was forced to continue. "My educated guess would be that the military is given all the money it wants, weapon production is increased back to levels seen at the peak of the Great War, there will be grants given to every scientific community possible to build defences and weapons. Probes will be launched into space looking for who ever attacked us and orbital defences rushed into production. Hell, it wouldn't surprise me if I'm recalled into active service despite my health."

The councillors muted their microphones and spoke for a short duration, at this action Pebble rolled her eyes, walked to the fridge, grabbed a soft drink and returned just before the councillors un-muted themselves and spoke once again to herself. "So your species will militarise."

Pebble looked to Reale and lifted her arms in a sign of defeat, shook her head and then looked back to the councillors. "Okay, let me try this. You are attacked by aliens hundreds of times more advanced than yourselves, then they disappear into the blue, what are you going do to? Hide it and pretend nothing ever happened?" Pebble let them think for a short duration. "Hell yes my species are going to militarise. Heck, people will already be getting battle plans ready in case of invasion."

The Turian flared his mandibles before speaking. "Understood. Put the Spectre back on."

The Ex-Cerberus marine rolled her eyes before starting to walk out of the omni-tools holographic range, however she stopped one foot away from doing so and turned around. "Oh, and if my species ever joins your own in FTL travel, learn some manners, it will really help us get along." She then continued her walk as the Turian spoke back, but she ignored it, patted the awaiting Asari on the back and went to torment Russell who was rather annoyingly chewing the TV remote.

/.../

Reale stepped back into the holographic sights and looked at the Asari councillor who was the first to speak. "That was an interesting interaction."

The Turian spoke next. "Interesting isn't the word I would use."

Reale blinked before saying. "As interesting or not that may have been, did you learn what you wished to know." There was a reluctant blink from the Asari councillor.

Their was a distinctively Turian grumble heard before the Turian councillor said "Yes. Once your mission is complete you are to evacuate all non-humans and alien technology in your current system then shutdown the Realy required to access their system. Other than that, your mission parameters are to stay the same. This meeting is adjourned."

Straight after the turian spoke Athame also spoke. "Reale, if you would please hold. I have some matters I wish to talk to you about privately in my office."

/.../

Reale sat back on the counter behind her as her mind worked overtime on the idea of what she was being asked. "So do you think you could ask her?"

The asari rubbed her still irritated crest and sighed, she could ask but it didn't mean she would agree with it. "So, because people have taken great interest in this entire affair, you want Teor to talk to someone live on the extranet from Earth about it?"

The Asari councilor nodded. "Yes, Reale, thanks to the leaks every one in this galaxy is interested to some degree in Teor and her survival on E561, the galaxy is rooting for her and having Teor talk to Jefela about it will raise the spirits of every sole in our galaxy."

Reale really wanted to believe that but she couldn't, what she truly believed was the fact that this was entirely for publicity, after all Asari elections were coming up soon and she would bet her ridiculous wage Athame was going to use this to push her reputation up. She clenched her fists as she said. "I'll talk to her about it, but if she says no, she says no."

/.../

It was some time later till Reale emerged from the kitchen and into the living room with the native, its varren pet thing, and one of her own kind, when she emerged Pebble spoke. "Now I have both you here I can tell you my plan for the next few days. But first, do you know the whereabouts of the things you are here for?"

Reale cocked her head slightly to the right and leaned back on the wall before speaking. "No. Infact I don't expect my scientist to get access to the information I want for a while, It's protected by more than a dozen or so encryptions that are more advanced than the usual encryptions your authorities use."

Pebble nodded, she expected as much. "Right, I know someone who is good with computers and owes me a large favour or two, of which I'm hoping he can pay off by getting you the information you want. However he is over half a continent away and getting there is going to require a road trip..." She could see the spectre start to protest but she continued anyhow. "...which will help you with human antics and get Teor out the house for a short duration. But as you can guess thats going to be problematic in its own right."

Reale started tapping her hands on her legs in thought, sucked her tongue slightly and then slumped her shoulders slightly before saying. "And how do you plan on not making that a problem."

Pebble quickly snatched the remote from russell's paws, who looked at Reale when she spoke, and then give a slight victory thump in the air and looked back to Reale. "Apparently an image of one of your species was circulated around the internet a few weeks back and its Christmas Eve tomorrow. My plan is to go tomorrow night as soon as the sun goes down, we will travel via back roads to my parents - which should take about 12-14 hours, have a break on Christmas day, get kitted up and then use their private boat to get where we need to go. If stopped, well she was at a fancy dress party."

Reale scratched her jaw line, she didn't like this plan. "Christmas?"

"Christmas is pretty much a holiday celebrated by 99% of the nations on Earth, everyone gets drunk, give gifts and spend time with family."

"Does Teor need to come?"

Pebble scratched Russells head slightly and looked at the young Asari, sure she could stay in the house, but she didn't want her too. "She could, but if she needs anything she will be stuck and she's been cooked up in here for however long, it would be nice for her to get out."

There was some biotic flaring as the Spectre started to stroll up and down the short living room, eventually a long time later she turned to Pebble. "You are sure this person can get the information I need."

"Nothing is a certainty, but this guy has a way with computers, my real fear is if he refuses to do it when I show up. If not I'll just remind him of..." Pebble cracked her fingers, with a look on her face that simply showed her pure joy. "My profession..." When she got a questioning look from Reale she added. "...obviously he won't know I'm retired."

The Asari strolled for a short time more, flaring her biotics every so often, it was a bad habbit she had picked up a few years back but she found it was rather helpful in calming her mind into a thinking state. "If I say yes and then mid trip I want to turn around, there will be no arguments."

Pebble nodded and then quickly moved the tv remote a bit further out of Russell's reach. "Providing it doesn't get us killed, yes."

There was some more flaring of biotics and strolling before another question was asked. "Are you fit to travel?"

Pebble scoffed at the Asari. "I have lost count of the time's I've been shot, stabbed and penetrated by flying shrapnel. This..." she tapped her still swollen knee. "..Is a minor setback and nothing more." There was some more strolling, which only came to a hault a short time later as Pebble laughed to herself. "Your nearly as bad as Teor for thinking, I basically have to ask her a day in advance what she wants for food."

The Asari continued to stroll and then spoke. "If you think were bad for excessive thinking try watching Eclor Havin." ... more strolling. It must of been another ten minutes before she came to a halt. "Yes."

Pebble looked up from Russells bowl which she was currently filling with chicken scraps from her earlier dinner. "Took your time." Then after putting the bowl down for the patiently waiting dog she spoke again. "Want to inform the lodger on whats happening?"

The Asari nodded, with a much more human looking nod than from earlier in the day. "Yes, I also need to talk to her about some other non-related things."

The human nodded and started to make herway to the bottom of the stairs. "Great, then most of tomorrow is going to be a free day. If your up by five and your entire body could pass as human you can join me at the gym and a walk of that little bugger if you wish, all providing my knees shrunk in size. Anyhow, I'm knackered so I'll see you guys tomorrow."

/.../

Thanks for reading!


	16. Chapter 16

Okay guys, a bit of a pre-warning. A chapter coming up, possibly next if not the one after is going to have a controversial scene in, or atleast to me it could kinda be controversial so I'm going to up the age limit to probably 12+, bad thing to do this far in i know but I feel the controversial bit will show Pebble's nature and can't be removed.

If you want to know the nature of the contro bit keep reading the next few lines, if not skip em to the bold bit.

The controversial bit, without any spoilers will be a death (or two) and nothing gruesome like torture or anything , but as you will find out this death is going to raise brows... and now ive raised the thrilling question of who is gunna die muhaha.

**Pebble's garage, approx 2 miles from Pebble's home.**

Pebble opened her garage door and took a deep breath, she loved the scent of petrol and in her garage that scent was thick in the air, she then cast her eyes over her four most prized possessions other than her dog, 3 cars and 1 ancient motorcycle. She is only reminded of her reason for looking over her mechanical beasts when Reale speaks. "Athame, what is that smell?"

Pebble smirked and took another whiff, she sure did love that smell. "Petrol." Then without expanding her answer she walked inside and started to admire an old triumph motorcycle, it was older then herself by nearly 150 years and when she purchased it she was left nearly bankrupted but she never regretted the buy.

The Spectre crinkled her nose slightly and followed the retired soldier inside to further investigate the vehicle that would be transporting them to their required destination, when she came to a stop she raised a brow. "What is that thing?"

Pebble lightly traced her fingers over the fuel tank, excited to touch it but at the same time damming herself for getting greasy fingerprints over the glossy paint job. "My saviour, pride and joy. The car that we will use is at the far end just I had to see and touch this little guy, its been far too long."

Reale looked over the human, from the looks of things it was almost as if Pebble was attracted to the 'pride and joy'. "You seem highly attached."

Pebble give a slight nod, still looking over the bike. "When I worked for Cerberus I saw and did unforgettable and horrific things, eventually these things build up and that has a toll on your mind, this bike was a large stress relief for myself, infact I would guarantee that it saved more than one life."

The Asari raised another brow, how did that thing save more than one life? It was quite confusing. "More than one life?" Pebble sighed, it was a dark part of her history and she did not want to tell the story, or at least not now. Eventually taking her hands off the bike she walked up her garage to a large metal container about 3 foot deep, 2 meters high and 5 meters long. As soon as Pebble unlocked and then raised the rolling door it immediately became clear that the container was an armoury as inside was multiple weapons ranging from high torsion crossbows to the latest state of the art high powered riffles, two different types of armor, the first was what looked like a hard suit and the second some sort of light armor that only went over the torso and was designed to take small arms fire and Reale's omni tool once again give its radio-active warning. Pulling out a carefully packed rucksack from a low shelf Pebble opened it before proceeding to fill the bag with ammunition, when it was full she slung the back over her back and then picked out two weapons, the first was a small riffle looking device and the second a small handgun. "Are you expecting trouble?"

Pebble looked to the Spectre who was giving her weapons a thorough inspection. "No." When she packed the smaller handgun away she walked over to her armour. "You may want to see this." Reale quicky made her way over to the armour. Touching the larger fully encompassing hardsuit Pebble said. "This is the armour I wore for Cerberus."

Reale inspected the armour, it appeared to be similar to Asari heavy armour in appearance but it was far heavier with thicker metal covering the vital areas. After a quick inspection something caught Reale's eyes. "Did you not repair your armour?"

Pebble felt a cold shiver snake its way up her spine as she looked at the bullet holes, she never had the will, resources or need to repair her armour after her last mission. "Active personnel would repair their armour after every mission. Anyhow this is what Cerberus will wear and their is only one weak spot." Lifting an arm up Pebble revealed the armpit of the suit and then pointed to a small piece of leather. "One knife or bullet here and you hit a jug. With out medical attention it wont take long for the person to bleed out." Reale nodded in appreciation as it was useful information she was sure would come in handy. "Got it?"

"Yes."

"Good, grab that lighter armour and bring it."

After Reale grabbed the armour Pebble shut the rolling doors to the armoury and led her to a vehicle that looked a thousand years more advanced than the motorbike to the point it didn't even have wheels, as she approached the drivers door she said. "This is our ride, chuck the armour in the back then jump in and we will pick up Teor."

Reale did as asked then climbed into the passenger seat and quickly glanced around the inside of the car, it seemed rather luxurious, their was incredibly comfy leather chairs - her own heated up the second she sat down, entertainment systems made themselves visible as soon as she looked to the dashboard and the entire feel to the interior was quality.

/.../

**Pebble's car.**

For the first few hours of the journey Teor was glued to the cars windows, exchanging every so often to see if there was anything of interest on the other side, of which she would usually find something, even if it was a road sign, it amused Pebble to no ends, a super advanced alien was entertained by road signs however after a few hundred road signs the Asari got bored and set her sights on the only person in the car she could have a full conversation with. "How long do you think we have left?"

Reale shrugged slightly as she then proceeded to ask pebble and then look back to the Asari sat behind Pebble. "About 10 hours."

Teor blinked slightly before asking another question. "Tell me about your self Spectre."

Reale smiled and clenched her fists slightly before raising a hand with an extended finger and shaking it. "If I told you about myself I would have to kill you. Howabout yourself, is it true your family founded and owns the Sharifni centre?"

If Teors face could of got any whiter she could of passed as a ghost. "How do you know?"

The spectre re-angled her chair so she was laid back and then turned over so she was facing Teor. "I have my methods. So are you trained in the ways?"

The Sharifni Centre was famous throughout the milky way for it workers ability to give massages that most likened to being given a new body, many had tried to re-create their technique but sofar no one had succeeded in replicating the massages and due to how famous the centre was the family who started it kept their identity a secret to all but a few in order to ensure their own privacy.

"Can i trust this doesn't leave earth?" There was a blink. "Yes, my mother made sure myself and my sister know's the technique."

Reale smiled. "Long shot but I don't suppose you could tell me how you do it then? I'm sure my wife would appreciate it."

"How about we play a game, I will massage your head and then give you 3 chances to tell me what I did, if you can tell me what I did I will show you how to perform the massage, knowing what I did is all well, but actually performing it is a real trick. If you lose you show me how to do some basic biotic defences. Deal?"

Reale was not about to turn the massage down, when she tried to book her wife a spot at the centre she found it was fully booked for the next eight years and the price was enough to make eyes water. As Reale Removed her wig she said "Deal."

The younger asari moved across the cars back seat so she was sat right next to the spectre, then using some fine tuned biotics she warmed her fingers up slighty. "Ready?"

/.../

"You use your biotics to vibrate my muscles?" A shake of a head. "Your biotics somehow control the blood flow and your fingers work to relieve the oxygen deprivation? Another shake of a head.

"Last chance."

Reale bit her tongue, this was a chance of a lifetime and she was determined to take the win. "Your biotics..."

Teor smiled and shook her head as she said. "Nope." From the dissapointed look on the spectre's face Teor continued. "Hey, millions if not billions of people try to guess what I do and so far no one has gotten it."

"From the way you quickly dismissed your usage of biotics I am willing to say they play no role."

Teor nodded. "Providing this doesn't leave Earth I can tell you that my biotic's are a ruse to throw people off the real technique, in fact all they do is warm my..." Both asari are distracted as Pebble viciously said a few words and then continued to mumble to herself, when Teor was sure everything was in order she continued. "...Fingers."

Reale laid back down once again after sitting up to see what was happening with Pebble. "Okay so have you actually done this on anyone else not related to yourself?"

Teor nodded and blinked. "Yes, I have worked part time for my mother now for over 40 years, it is how I fund my university studies."

Reale blinked before saying. "Yes, when I researched yourself I noticed you studied Xenoinfimiceezo... but I never quite understood what it was."

"Okay lets say Pebble, a specimen of a pre-relay species who has had virtually zero contact with eezo had to live on Thessia, do you think her body would be able to adapt to live there?" A blink. "Wrong, Pebble's species lack eezo and if she were to live on Thessia with eezo seeping out of every plant, animal and volcano her body would get sick very quickly. What I research at university is methods to speed up the process of eezo positive adaptations and cures to the illness caused by digestion and exposure."

"I did not know that was a problem."

Teor nodded and blinked. "When was the last time a species joined the post relay community?"

"Erm when did the Krogans get up-lifted?"

"Exactly, its not a very well known issue as it last occurred during the Rachni war nearly a thousand years back and even then people were more concerned about the Rachni then they were about people getting sick from Eezo and by the time the war was over we had found solutions to the sickness so it didn't even make coverage after the war."

Reale shifted in her chair slightly before saying. "Right, so if we found solutions surely we can re-apply them."

"No, we had to find a solution for the Turians, Hanar, Vorcha, Krogan and even the varrens the Korgan are so fond of. The solution for one species can not be transferred to the solution of another."

The spectre blinked and sat in silence for a short time and then a thought hit her. "Hold on, aren't 99% of ships these days using eezo cores?"

"Yes and while it is problematic in the long run to species who have not yet adapted to its presence it is not as bad as say breathing eezo radiated air while eating food and water with eezo traces for an unspecified time period. Also eezo cores are shielded by multiple layers of lead and other heavy elements"

"So what was your job on the observatory?"

"Studying human biology so that when they join us in FTL travel we already have a cure waiting for them."

There was once again a silence through out the car with only the soft humm of the engine and quiet music from the radio heard then a short time later Pebble asked Reale a question. "I've always wondered since seeing you guys, how on earth do we look so similar? I mean we evolved light years away from each other yet we look nearly identical, are all the alien species similar or what?"

After Reale changed her neural adapter to English, asked what the question was and then explained the question to Teor the younger Asari raised a brow and said. "Good question."

/.../

**Approx 10 hours later at 0728**

When Pebble eventually stopped the car outside of her parents house she had to awaken Teor, when the young asari eventually came back to reality she could barely believe she was awake due to the sheer size and location of Pebble's parents home, it must of been at least 3 stories tall, 50 or so meters wide and situated right on the coast line. The house had more than ample room for Pebble and her parents so it raised a question to the young Asari, why would Pebble live hundreds of miles away in the freezing cold out of the way of everything?

Pulling the key from ignition Pebble turned to face Reale who was starting to collect her things from the various pockets around the car. "Right a word of warning, my dad is extremely inquisitive and could barely contain himself when he saw Teor who couldn't even speak English. Reale expect to be bombarded by questions ranging from what you eat too how your space ship works down to the atomic level. If you can't answer his questions for what ever reason just tell him so, or tell me then he will get the jist." When she got a nod and a blink of Reale she grabbed her most reliable SMG she had stored carefully down by her left hand side for security purposes and opened her door. "Lets roll then."£

/.../

/.../

One final note chaps, I'm gunna go back over the first few chaps and try to upgrade the grammar and learn some new stuff to bring into play for you guys to just make the writting look and read a little better, if it delays the chapters my bad, if not win win.


	17. Chapter 17

**Oops, initially UL a slightly out of date version with some grammar issues, my bad, correct version UL. No story changes! 24/7/14**

Right looks like the contro bit is next chapter.

/.../

"So tell me more about this day?"

Pebble's father still couldn't quite believe he was talking to an alien in full English and was more than happy to answer the Asari's question. "Well, the day originally started as a pagan festival a thousand plus years ago, anyway it was started to celebrate the coming of spring or something like that, which is when the crops start to grow again and the weather starts to improve, but over the years it has evolved to a day where we celebrate family. It's such an important day to ourselves that war's often hold a day's cease fire."

"It means that much to your people?"

The old man looked to his daughter who was still sleeping on the sofa after her long drive. "With the great war more so now than ever. How about your own people, do you not hold a similar day?"

The Asari initially shook her head and then she remembered small dying tradition. "Actually, a thousand years back the entire galaxy was sucked into a war so ghastly with an incredibly dangerous enemy that not one modern species didn't take part. Some still remember the war and celebrate the had fought for victory with a weeks worth of traditions. It is the closest we have."

The old man nodded and stroked the hair on his under chin before replying. "I am surprised a species as advanced as yourselves still have war."

The Spectre looked solemnly to the human in thought before saying. "The galaxy is a very dangerous place and some species understand nothing but violence, to the point we were forced to drive some to extinction."

The man looked to his daughter again, taking special attention to a large scar across her left forearm and then said. "I hope you aren't forced to repeat your actions."

There was a shake of a head. "Your species are militaristic and war driven yes, but you are relatively tame."

The old man sighed and continued to stroke his beard. "I'm not sure If I should be happy to hear that or terrified."

"However if your species prove to be a threat do not think we will sit back and let you run rampage through-out the galaxy."

The man nodded. "And I would expect no less."

There was a short silence between the two, Pebble's father debating whether he should push for information, and Reale wondering if revealing small bits of information like that would come back to bite where it hurt. Eventually a short time later Reale looked to Charles. "I know this may seem like an odd question, but what is your daughters true name?"

The man continued to stroke his overly groomed facial hair. "Do you mean why is she called Pebble?"

"Yes, information my crew have gathered says she is called Ellie Collins and not Pebble."

The man nodded understanding where this question was going to end. "Then your information is correct as her birth name is indeed Ellie, I believe Pebble was her call name in the military and she preferred it over Ellie, don't ask me why as I could not begin to fathom why myself."

"Fair enough. If you also don't mind me asking, why doe's she live so far away from yourselves? My own species and many others in the galactic community prefer to remain near family and not distance themselves unless they have good reason."

"We live in a very built up area, and my daughter has large, and very problematic issue with crowds which for a short time of her life controlled her, so I believe she prefers the extensive nature, peace, and quiet of her home up north."

Reale's mind started to think of all the possibilities of what Pebble's issues could be with crowds, but first she had to get an answer to another issue that just arose, "What type of crowds does she struggle with?"

"Do you know what I mean when I say street crowd?" A nod and a blink. "Those types."

"What is her issue with them?"

The man sucked his tongue slightly in thought till he eventually replied a short time later. "I honesty don't know, and couldn't make a good guess as to what her issue is."

"And when you say issues how do you mean?"

Charles looked over again to Pebble who was still in a deep sleep, and in no position to hear or understand the conversation, "She usually beats one or two poor sole's to near death until we can snap her out of what ever mind set she is in, and trust me when I say that we don't have much time to do that."

Reale tested her hot chocolate temperature before responding. "Yes, I can see how that is problematic."

"You have no idea. Anyway, moving onto a different topic we were not expecting Pebble and Teor till new year, so with your appearance I am going to assume that something must have changed."

Reale half nodded as she considered what to tell the man, she wanted to keep the conversation going, but also not say too much about her intentions. Pebble being in a similar profession could understand the fact that some things need to stay quiet, and she could be trusted so far to do so, but could her father who had not seen even a day's worth of combat? "Yes, I need some information and your daughter may know of someone who can get me that information."

"Ah, I see."

/.../

4 Hours later in the kitchen.

"Reale, could you please tell the others that dinner is nearly ready to be served, you will find Charles in the basement."

The spectre looked up from the maps in front of her to Pebble's mother who was pulling a large Turkey out of the oven, and nodded before standing up to make her way through the house, finding Pebble was easy as she was still crashed out on the sofa, and all she had to do to find Teor was listen for Russell. Looking through the basement door for Charles she nearly got the shock of her life, on a large screen was a video of a humanoid machine half covered in human looking flesh, from the video playing she could see its primary task was to eliminate humans and it was doing a bloody good job of it. Walking through the door she didn't even look to see if Charles was present before speaking, "Please tell me that those things don't exist."

Charles paused the clip just as one of the machines came back onto the screen, "What? The Terminators?"

"The machines."

Charles laughed lightly before shaking his head. "No, we have laws governing machines that look and act like humanoids, they aren't allowed to exist out side of scientific study or something like that, but what we do have..." Charles flicked through the film he was watching till he got to a machine that flew. "...Is flying drones capable of killing without user input." The Spectre shuddered as a thought crept through her, what if the Geth were made like the machines in this film? Charles seeing the shudder continued. "Yeah, gives me the shivers too."

The spectre looked back to the man and away from the large screen. "That is very concerning news."

"How come?"

The spectre looked back to the screen. "What is this story line?"

"Basically machines try to eliminate humanity."

The spectre shuddered again. "What if I told you that this has happened with another species in our galaxy, and the machines won?"

"Oh."

Reale nodded. "Yes, now you see why I am concerned. Anyhow your wife has asked me to inform you that your dinner is almost ready."

As Charles stood he spoke. "Then we better get going."

/.../

An hour or so after dinner.

After collecting a bag, the same bag she put away before Reale entered her home, Pebble made her way though her parents house to the garden where Teor was playing with her dog. Placing the rather heavy bag down next to the Asari she scratched her ear before making her voice heard. "Err Teor..." Pointing to the bag she spoke again. "Christmas, you."

Looking at the human with a cocked head it took the Asari a short time to work out what she meant, or what she thought was the message. Ponting to the bag shyly she responded. "Bag me?"

Pebble nodded. "Yeah, just thought if your going to be on Earth for a while you maze well try to do something useful with all your spare time." As the Asari made no effort to look inside the bag the human pulled out a large box and handed it to her. "Muon ray microscope, supposed to be the best on the market. Pulling out another item she handed it once again to the Asari. "Greg Nuggon's 'Everything we know about human DNA, and it's role in the human cell - 22nd century edition." While Pebble knew the Asari would fail to understand it due to its English, she could always do the meld thing to find out what she wanted to know and then look in the book herself, failing that maybe a picture of cells or something could be useful. Finally she pulled out the last two items in the bag, the first was a wifi only, no microphone or camera tablet that was capable of connecting to the microscope in order to give a larger image of what it was looking at and the last item was a 1tb flash card that could be stored in the tablet to save the images she had taken with the scope for use back where ever she lived in the galaxy.

Teor finally understanding what was happening with the unusual items pulled the human in for an emotional hug, ever since she had crash landed on Earth Pebble had taken her in and treated her equal to a fellow human, showed her nothing but kindness, fed, clothed, and give her shelter. Thinking back she couldn't even remember a single thing the human had asked for in return other than occasionally asking her to do some small tasks when her knee was sore, and now here she was giving her gifts for a small human celebration she had no knowledge about. As the Asari hugged the human her mind started to go into overdrive, thinking of anything she owned that she could possibly give to Pebble, but her mind failed to find anything other than the uniform she was dressed in when her shuttle went down. Pulling back from the human she mouthed 'Thank you.' before wiping a small tear away and pulling Pebble in for one last hug. Releasing the human a short time later she looked back to the gifts and tried to work out what they were, the first item she received looked like it magnified things from the box art, the second thing was obviously a book about cell biology, the third item was more puzzling, it was something clearly with a screen, but other than that not much information obtainable from the box, and the last item was a complete mystery, a small black piece of metal? Ignoring the Spectre's commands not to meld Teor held her palm out to the human who, unaware of the Spectre's wishes, happily complied with the Asari's request.

/.../

12 hours later on Pebble's parents Boat.

Pebble looked to her parents who were loading some bags onto the boat. "Were only going to be two or three days at the most, and it's not exactly a holiday."

Charles shook his head as he passed the food from the families dock to Lynda on the vessel. "Oh no this is my boat, and I captain her."

"If were playing that game, I virtually bought this thing for you out of my wage."

"If I remember rightly, last time you took the helm you nearly capsized her."

Pebble smiled as she made sure her weapons were securely stored under a seat just inside the living quarters of the vessel, "Ah, that was a rogue wave and you know it."

"Doesn't change the fact we were nearly capsized."

There was a frustrated groan released by Pebble. "Fine you can come, but as I nearly 'capsized' her your doing all the work driving this bugger."

The man looked rather smug as he boarded the boat. "Fine by me, you probably don't know your Alpine Butterfly Bend from your Chain Splice."

Pebble, who knew a lot about knots due to some specialist training with Cerberus, shook her head at her father "You really going to go down this path?."

"Yeah."

Pebble smiled again and shook her head. "You may want to get some vaseline ready because this is going to hurt."

Just as she was about to dice out her extensive knowladge in a form designed to wound her father's ego, her mother caught both their attentions as she shuffled into the boats kitchen with two large bags. "Pebble, looks like Teor is struggling with a bag and Charles, I'm missing my lipstick."

Pebble looked to her father who shook his head and replied. "Why do you need that? Were out on the seven seas with no docks other than home planned."

Lynda smiled back to her husband. "Top shelf, cherry red please."

Pebble rolled her eyes and said "I'll grab it. Anything else you two need?"

Lynda was the only parent to reply. "No thank you."

/.../

4 hours later, somewhere over the Caribbean sea.

Reale was sat on a recliner next to Teor watching Pebble work out by performing pull ups off the boats mast, she watched as the muscles across her back and shoulders pulled tight and loosed as she rose and lowered, it was Reale's judgement that Pebble, despite being terminally ill, was certainly in good shape and could easily over power herself or any other Asari with out much effort, providing biotics were not used.

Teor, who was watching with a very keen eye quietly spoke to her Asari counterpart. "What number is she at now?"

"20 ish. Oh by the way, yesterday I asked my communication officer to code a program that will install on your tool and then translate English to Galactic, and vis versa when activated, it was finished this morning so should be ready for download through system update."

When the Asari finished installing the software she activated it and looked at Reale who changed her neural adapter to English. "Testing." The tool light up the second Reale spoke and displayed the Galactic translation.

Testing Asari to English Teor looked to Pebble and asked. "What number now?"

When she read the text displayed (in english) Reale smiled, and looked back towards Pebble before changing her neural adapter. "About 40 odd I believe." The two continued to watch Pebble for a short time before Reale turned to look at Teor and speak with a serious tone. "Teor, I don't want you getting to close to this human, when we come to leave it will only make things more difficult and she can't come with."

There was a slow blink from the younger Asari. "But if she could..."

Reale interrupted "But she can't. There is only a few incredibly unique situations in which I would allow her to leave this planet with us, non of which I can see happening."

"Which are."

Reale sighed slightly, maybe Teor was already too attached. "If we give her a virus native to our own species, then I will force her to leave this planet as remaining can potentially cause more harm than good, the last thing this planet needs is an alien virus running rampant through its population."

"Okay, so that is one of the reasons."

Reale blinked and clenched her fists slightly at the next two. "The next is if removing her from this planet aids in the mission in any way shape or form, and the last is if the council wants a live human removed from this planet."

Teor squinted slightly before saying. "What if..."

Reale clenched her fists. "No what ifs."

"All those options sounds as if she doesn't have an option to stay."

The spectre blinked. "Because she wont, anyway you had any more contact from your parents?"

Teor give a very human shake of the head. "No, I'm actually a little worried about that."

"Ah I'm sure it will come with time, infact, due to these guys technological advancement we need to keep the relay emissions to a minimal so sometimes it takes a while for data to come through, my bet is that its stuck in our space and is waiting to be transmitted."

"I hope so. And if that's the case how does our Councillor expect me to do a live chat with the extranet person?"

"With great difficulty, it wouldn't surprise me if they ask to use the direct Spectre to Council communication network which doesn't require the relays to perform the task."

Just when Teor was about to voice her thought on that comment Lynda is heard shouting from the boats kitchen to signify that the food was done.

/.../

0100. Every one on the boat, except Pebble, is asleep.

Pebble sat on the side of the boat with her feet dangling in the water, the only light around herself was that of the moon and the stars. Laying onto her back Pebble looked up to stars and thought about the two aliens she was harbouring, what other things out in the galaxy that were just awaiting for humanity to discover and just how big the universe is. After an hour or so the retired veteran sat up and pulled her feet out the water, as she did so she looked up and just so happened to see a small faint light out in the ocean a head of herself, the light was like an incredibly faint star that required the darkest of nights to see. Picking her curiosity Pebble watched the light and slowly it dawned on her that the light was heading slowly but surely straight for herself, when it was less than 200 meters out she could start to see the butts of cigarettes. slowly standing up, but keeping low she made her way into the living quaters, grabbed three items out of her weapon supply and then awoke Reale but placed a hand over her mouth to stop any noise. When the Asari awoke Pebble quietly whispered in her ear, "We have company. " When the Asari understood Pebble handed her trusty ACR over before adding. "If anyone other than me come's through that door be trigger friendly."

/.../

/.../

Okay chaps, I focussed mostly on trying to get the commas in the right locations for this chapter, hope my use of them has improved but knowing my luck its the opposite ha. Anyway got a few things coming up over the next week, so in other words you may have to live on that cliff hanger for a short duration.

Thanks for reading!


	18. Chapter 18 (Version 2)

Okay, time for you to find out what Pebble is capable of and her true nature, also I don't know what you guys think of the term and reality of 'just war' but its certainly not abided by in this chapter, I've upped the age to 12 for one scene in particular, I'll let you figure out which bit.

/.../

Pebble twirled her favourite knife, twig, in her hands as she watched the incoming boat, her own position was hidden well due to patch black nature of night on the ocean and her laid back position. As she twirled the blade she allowed her mind to wander back to her days in the military fighting for Ceberus and wondered if when she fought for them if she would still have harbored Teor, of course what ever she said now would be biased and influenced due to her illness and friendship to Teor, but she had time to kill and not much to do, so wounder she did, and eventually she came to the conclusion that no, she would of done what she would of thought necessary at the time, or as Cerberus personnel would say, act for the greater good of mankind. When she was happy with the conclusion of her little 'what if' scenario she focussed back onto the pirate ship, it was still a small distance out and from its current velocity it was obviously being rowed in to keep engine noise to an absolute minimum.

With a silent sigh she looked back down to her blade and smiled in thought of what the pirates faces would look like when she was snapping their necks or plunging twig deep into the vital areas of their body, she then began to laugh slightly at the thought, if only she could get a camera system hooked up in time. Looking back up Pebble sighed again, the pirates had made next to no ground, they were either very weak and lazy pirates or they were rowing against a strong current, either scenario was good news, lazy meant they would be sloppy and cut corners of vital tasks once on board, and strong currents meant they would be tired when she had to engage them, it is a win win situation for Pebble.

After sliding twig back into its sheath secured tightly around her right ankle Pebble started to do some stretches in her laid down position, the last thing she wanted was to get cramp hit mid battle and as she planned on swimming tonight, she certainly didn't want it when in the water. By the time her stretches were over the pirates were at a distance Pebble determined to be the 'get your ass into gear' mind set. So keeping her body on the deck, she crawled around the boat till she was hidden by the living area and then dropped down into the water so she was completely hidden from pirate sight, on or off board. When she got into the water she shed all of her clothes bar her 'last bullet', the reason for shedding her clothes was due to it weighing her down when wet, the fact that when she got back on board the dropping water from the clothes would give her location away, and also her naked form could distract the pirates long enough if seen for her to act. Floating in the water Pebble started to suck water into her mouth and then expel it in a jet, after a entertaining herself in this manner for a short time she heard the all important rowing of the pirate vessel come to a stop, so after a deep breath she swum under her own boat, under the pirate vessel and a little further away, so that when she resurfaced she was approximately 5 meters away, and in her current position she could see the five unfortunate pirates who decided to raid the wrong vessel. Out of the five pirates three of them were carrying assault riffles, a relatively short one was branding a rather vicious looking shotgun and the last had some sort rail gun, forcing her to conclude that the rail gun branding pirate was more than likely the leader as his weapon was by far the most expensive. As she watched she could see one of the grunts with an assault riffle pick up what looked like a wooden board that was going to be used to move from one vessel to the next, to Pebble this was their final chance, if they pulled back now she would leave them be, but the second that plank of wood touched her own vessel they were as good as dead. Within seconds however they sealed their fate and Pebble started a slow swim towards the enemy boat, by the time she got there only one pirate was on board, usually the job of the pirate left behind was to secure their own vessel while the raid occurred. With one hand on the vessel she pulled twig out of its sheath and threw it at the neck of the remaining pirate when it looked away unaware of its impending doom. The second the knife left her fingers Pebble was pulling her self out the water, and when she was on board she stood as quickly as she could and caught the pirate as it fell dead to prevent the thump its collapsing body would of otherwise made. One down, four to go.

After dispatching the dead pirate Pebble cut the fuel lines of the primitive petrol engine on-board used prior to rowing, wet its radio equipment, climbed on-board her own vessel, and then pushed the pirate vessel away from her own, the currents in the water quickly took hold of the vessel causing it to slowly drifted away. With out stopping to watch it drift away Pebble turned toward the front of her boat while keeping low to stay out of sight, when she got to the front she found as she suspected, the short pirate with the shotgun was standing guard, she guessed that this pirates main job was to prevent any one attempting to escape the living quarters using the windows at the front of the boat. Taking twig out of it's resting place she raised her hand into throwing position, however just before she let go of the blade she caught a slight glimpse of the pirate who she was about to kill, it was a child no more than 10 years of age. To anyone else they may of second guessed what they were about to do, but Pebble is from a different cut and to many a different breed, if it used a gun for malicious purposes it was old enough to face her fury in all its horrific glory. So, without a second thought she continued as before, her knife flew true and she ended the childs life. Rushing again towards the child she caught it mid drop and then placed it silently on the decking, as she did so she heard quiet chatter coming from the side of the vessel where the pirate's boarded, it was in a foreign language she failed to understand, but from the tone she got the jist of the conversation, 'where the hell is our boat?'

Smiling to herself she made her way around to the opposite side of the boat, her movement and location hidden by the living quaters, getting to the back of the boat where the door to the living quarters was located, she quickly checked the door and found it was unscathed however a small bobby pin was inside the lock, hopefully no permanent damage had been done. Making her way to the pirates side she stopped at the corner of the living quaters so she was still hidden and listened in, as she hoped she heard a slight splash from where a pirate was obviously getting in the water, sofar so good, with one pirate in the water she could spend more energy dispatching the other two. After a short silence she heard footsteps making their way back to her own location, just before they made their way around the corner however Pebble rounded the corner, threw her knife at one and jumped at the second who was carrying the rail gun and a second assault riffle, which she presumed belonged to the man in the water, the instant she was ontop of the second pirate she placed two hands around his head with her thumbs in its eyes and landed a knee in its groin, a loud scream was released by the pirate as its eyes popped and its groin more than likely sustained permanent damage, but she didn't care as the only pirate who could do anything potentially dangerous now was in the water and at a severe disadvantage due to the fact she had its weapons.

Reale hearing the scream stood from her laid down hidden position and ran out the door with Pebble's assault riffle raised, after rounding the corner she took in a deep breath, Pebble was alive and from the looks of things un-injured, and the one's who came on board dead by what looked like gruesome means. Pebble who still had her fingers deep in one of the pirate's eye sockets turned to Reale and give a hearty, and frankly disturbing laugh as she snapped the pirates neck, despite the danger to her family and friends she enjoyed her massacre alot more than she should of. That was one of the down sides of retiring, well, medical discharge, she missed the adrenaline and heat of combat, it was an extremely satisfying sensation that Pebble truthfully could never quite get enough of. Reale grimaced at the dead, eyeless pirate and then holstered her weapon but Pebble shook her head and pointed at the water. "One more if you want target practice?" Reale shook her head. Pebble nodded. "I agree, no sport killing and unarmed, do me a favour and go and turn on the boats lights would you?" With a quick nod Reale turned and disspeared allowing Pebble to turn to the ocean, she was sure the last pirate now knew of its friends deaths. After a shallow breath Pebble spoke towards the ocean, not quite being able to see the exact whereabouts of the last pirate "Mr pirate, do you understand me?" Silence, as expected was the only response. "Well, as English is spoken by 97% of this planet, as of two years back when I read this random article about it, I'm going to assume you can. Your pirate skivvies are dead and I have cut the fuel lines on your vessel. You have no where to go and unless you are trained by the East's N program you have little hope of staging a fight. Show yourself and we can talk about your terms of surrender."

As she guessed there was no response and certainly no face shown.

"Oh well, we will wait till the lights come on." After a few moments the lights as requested, energized and light up, the pirate became visible and as Pebble guessed it was swimming towards its own crippled vessel, however when he was illuminated he raised two hands as best as he could in water and turned around to face Pebble. "Swim to the edge of the boat."

It didn't take long for the pirate to do as asked, however it did seem rather slow at swimming. When he got close he spoke with a strong Scottish accent. "Help me up and I will surrender with no struggle."

Pebble smiled. "A Scot? What forced you into piracy?"

"Money. Please help me up."

Pebble shook her head, primarily as she had no intention of helping the pirate onto her ship. "Did you fight?"

"No. Please." The pirate was now giving a slightly desperate look, she guessed he mustn't like swimming or something, so that raised the question, why did he and not another not swim after their lost vessel?

"Hmm, too bad. And why? What have you got for me to allow you on board my vessel, when not five minuets ago you probably were going to kill us after you got your moola?"

"Radio codes! I have radio codes! Now please."

This chap had just become a whole lot more useful to Pebble. "Radio codes for what?" She had a suspicion that it was talking about the communication network most pirates used but she couldn't be sure.

"The - the CI network. Gives locations of vessels, attacks planned and other."

Out of nowhere Reale reappeared, after turning on the lights she had stayed in the darkness and watched the interaction, but the news of this network was too good to ignore or allow Pebble to her own ways. "Do you swear you contain that information? Knowing that if you don't I will kill you?"

"Yes, yes. I promise now help me out."

Pebble rolled her eyes, fun's over and her inital idea of shooting the pirate in the water was out of the question, for now. "Raise your riffle." After speaking she lowered a hand to the pirate and helped it out of the water. Then with a hand on its collar she forced it to the boats radio system. "Enter the encryption keys now."

The scots hands shook as it did so, so much that it took it three nerve wracking attempts to do so. When Pebble was happy the network was as he said she lead him out to the front of the boat. "Pick up your friends and throw them into the sea."

Reale who was near by squinted and clenched her hands slightly, it seemed like a torterous thing to do to the pirate.

Once all of the dead bodies was disposed of the pirate sat down, he had tears visibly rolling down his cheeks and his breathing was deep and quick, however his life was about to get a whole lot worse. "Stand up." Pebble barked at the man.

The pirate was startled at the authority projected by Pebble and stood up immediately, to which Pebble once more smiled. "Time to clean the boat of blood."

It was a good half hour before the man finished his job, when he did Pebble presented him a question. "Which was your weapon?" The 'was' being emphasised as they had just become Pebble's property.

The man seemed to hop around on one foot as he thought, eventually he replied. "The assault riffle on the one who's neck you snapped."

Pebble nodded. "Reale, keep an eye on him for one minute." Reale nodded allowing Pebble to find the weapon, retrieve it and make her way back, when she got back she checked the ammunition of the weapon and then looked at the pirate. "Do you know what was one of the biggest dis-honours my unit faced during the war?"The pirate shook his head. "Death by own weapon." Before the pirate could respond or Reale could act Pebble raised the weapon and executed her prisoner with a single shot to the head, as it fell she pushed it backwards and into the abyss of the sea. When its body made contact with water Pebble emptied the rest of the cartridge and then threw the weapon at the holed body. Reale watched in disbelief, under her own Galactic laws Pebble had just committed a very severe war crime, but then she remembered this is Earth, and they played by a complete different set of rules.

After a short silence of staring at the dead body Reale eventually found her voice. "What happened to shooting an unarmed being no sport?"

Pebble shrugged as she turned around and started to walk towards the back of the boat and into the living quarters. "Something doesn't have to be a sport for it to feel good."

/.../

Right, I'm not sure if that's was bad as I think, but I don't want to get on the bad side of the moderators, so I've put it to what ever rating is for 12+. What do you think? Am I being paranoid? Not putting the age high enough or just right? What ever you think I would like to know thanks... and more importantly, is Pebble still the person you thought she was?

Anyway cheers for reading.

Oh, one last thing, I'm hoping to get one more chap out before the 19th because afterwards im away for another week, if i do win win, if not oh well, till next time.


	19. Chapter 19

Hello chaps, this chapter is probably not up to my usual in poor English standards as after my week away I've been a bit busy sorting somethings out, and as I wanted to get something out here to tell you I'm still here chipping away, less time has been spent of proof reading and what not, anyway I'll publish it now for those who don't mind a bit of grammar issues, but for the more tedious I'll have an updated version uploaded on saturday night at the latest.

Oh, and for those that also care, I've been severly lagging behind in updating earlier chapters, I hope to get 2 or 3 of them done this week, sorry once more for the delay.

/.../

Matriarch Am'Ber sniffed slightly, she could smell the sweet scent of Thessian coffee, opening her eyes to barely more than a slit she saw her daughter sat on the edge of her bed with a tray of food and a large cup that obviously contained Thessian coffee, Am'ber would of lied if she said it didn't smell good, but with her first daughter stuck on a hostile alien world she simply didn't have an appetite.

Geiger, Teors younger sister, saw her mothers eyes open and spoke up. "Mother? I have brought breakfast."

Am'Ber turned onto her side to face away from her daughter and sighed lightly. "I'm not in the mood."

"Can you remember our last conversation?"

Am'Ber nearly laughed at that question till she thought back, her memory of the event was hazy at the best. "No, not really."

It was now Geiger's turn to sigh. "You had a hain attack mother, can you remember any of that?"

Am'Ber had heard of hain attacks before but she couldn't quite think of what they were. "Remind me again please, what is a hain attack?"

Geiger moved on the bed so she was sat facing her mother once more. "Stress overloads your nervous system causing a wide variety of medical issues, our doctor says that if you went another week with out me calling her out you would of had another, but fatal attack."

Am'Ber huffed, that didn't sound good in the least. "What's the treatment?"

Geiger picked up the tray of food and placed it in front of her mother. "Well, first of all she give you a shot of diluted eezo straight into your blood stream, then you have to eat properly, and not skip meals like you have been doing since Teor got stranded on that damned planet, you need plenty of rest, and most imporyantly you have to minimize yourself to stress."

"How can I do that when I don't even know if my first born is alive?" Am'Ber spoke so softly it barely came out as a whisper.

"But we do know she is alive, remember? The spectre found her."

Am'Ber sat up on her bed and rubbed her eyes before looking at her second daughter in an attempt to work out if she was lying to her in order to get herself to eat or not, when she was sure she was sincere she replied. "How... is she coming home?"

Geiger passed her mother the Thessian coffee she had prepared before responding. "How? The spectre apparently found a native hiding her from their authorities using some eezo tracking device. Is she coming home? Not yet, the Spectre still has something to do on E561 and is going to leave her once again to the care of the native while she is busy. In her letter, Teor seems happy for this to happen."

Am'Ber sipped the coffee, it was better than she could remember it being, probably due to the fact she hadn't eaten or drank much in the last few months. "She sent a letter?"

Geiger blinked and passed over a plate of fruit. "Yes, and a video, I will load them when you eat." Am'Ber's daughter waited for a second to allow her mother to tuck in before producing the letter and video.

After reading the letter and viewing the video multiple times Am'Ber looked once more to her daughter. "Did you respond?"

Geiger blinked. "Yes, I told her that you are worried sick, don't worry as I left it at that, and updated her with whats happening around here."

Am'Ber stood and began to pull some clothes on. "Do you have a copy of the letter you replied with?"

"Of course."

"Good girl. Do I have any meetings scheduled for today?"

Geiger clenched her fists as she collected the empty plate and cup her mother consumed from. "Matriach Benezia informed me yesterday that she is coming over at mid-day to take you to get a celebratory lunch, and then visit some nature reserve with her daughter and bond mate."

"Are you comming?"

Geiger clenched her fists one more time. "No, I have to practice for my role." In reality, Geiger was actually meeting multiple people today regarding her mothers estate and finances, but she lied to prevent her mother from attending and miss out on stress relieving activities, as to Gieger her mothers health was more important than wealth or land.

/.../

11 Hours later.

Pebble groaned as she turned over on her make shift bed on the floor, lowering a hand she slowly rubbed her back where her right kidney was located, it had being giving her some grief over the last few days, however today it seemed to be rather aggravated and too painful to simply ignore as she had being doing so previously. After a few minutes of rubbing and no leaway given by the cause of the pain she sighed and sat up. By now it was near mid-day and every one on the boat was up and moving about, she was the last up which was unusual but after last night this was not to be un-expected.

"You alright?"

Pebble turned to face her mother who had watched her awake and rub her back. "Yeah, must of pulled something."

Lynda shook her head. "Your lucky that's all you pulled after last night's activities."

"The day I can't dispose of a few lousy pirates is the day that I go to my grave. Anyway, you remember where I put my box of pain killers?"

"Thats not what I meant, and under the sink." Pebble nodded as she remembered the location of her medcine, and what exactly was that supposed to mean? At seeing her daughters confusion Lynda spoke again. "I'm surprised a pirate didn't take an interest to your naked form, hint hint."

After rolling her eyes at her mother, putting on some clothes, and grabbing the pain killers Pebble made her way outside the inner boat, despite it being winter in the northern hemisphere at her current location it was mid summer and a summery day. Making her way over to Reale, who was giving Teor some self defense lessons in biotics, she dropped her medical supplies and then sat down near the Asari's. Grabbing her box again when she got comfortable, Pebble pulled out a small bottle Teor had never previously seen and filled another syringe, this syringe however had a far sturdier looking needle than the others Teor had seen her use on a regular basis. When the syringe was filled and the air expelled from the chamber Pebble looked to Reale. "Can you do me a favour?"

Reale looked at Teors translator before changing her neural adapter back to English and then looking at the syringe in Pebble's hand, was no an answer? "Possibly?"

"I need you to inject this..." She held the needle up so she got a better view. "In my spinal column."

Reale took the needle and turned it in her hands. "What will it do to you?"

"Cure some ache's and pain's."

Reale sighed as she took the needle. "Where does it go?"

"My neck, somewhere around here." Pebble pointed mid way down her neck.

As Reale repositioned herself so she had a better angle Teor spoke with a hint of urgency in her voice. "Wait!" Reale turned to face her, or more importantly her omni-tool. Understanding the text as her neural adapter was set to English she lowered the needle and watched as Teor made her way over. "Trust me, I am more qualified to do this." Reale happily handed the needle over and laid down on a near-by deck chair.

Pebble squinted in curiosity as Teor removed the needle from her skin and placed a hand on her neck, then with incredibly light movements run her fingers lightly up and down to explore her neck, as she did so Teor used incredibly light melds that were only sensory neuron deep, identical to those used during her massages, to locate Pebbles sensitive spots and the precise location of her spinal column. Raising the needle back up she lightly applied the needle in the location that she determined to be least painful and most effective. Then using two fingers on either side of the needle to feel exactly what Pebble was feeling at that percise location she pushed the needle deep into her neck. Despite it being the least sensitive spot, it was still an incredibly painful experience for Teor, so much so that it made her wonder why the human was putting herself through it.

After removing the needle Teor turned to Reale, who had now tuned her translator back to Galactic and said. "Tell her to lie down on the chair next to you." Reale blinked and then did as requested, Pebble also did as asked however seemed a bit reluctant to do so. "Where do you hurt?"

Pebble read Teors omni-tool and then placed a delicate hand on her lower back. After gently removing her hand Teor felt her lower back, there was a large lump felt just under her skin that when her light meld was initiated, instantly cried out its pain, it was an incredibly disturbing sensation and to know this is Terran's disease made it all that much worse for Teor to experience. Moving her hands away from the cancerous lump Teor lightly traced her fingers around most of Pebble's back and in doing so she found four more lumps and evidence of Terrans. It was a harrowing and gut wrenching feeling for Pebble every time Teor's fingers came to a stop on her back as she knew instantly that she had found a cancerous lump, she knew she had a few but the amount of times Teors fingers came to a stop surprised Pebble. After exploring Pebble's back to locate all the sensitive area's Teor light her hands with biotic energy and began to work her magic, in hope that she could relieve atleast some of Pebble's pain naturally.

...

Multiple hours later. Approx 1900

Pebble threw a small, and rather heavy rucksack at Reale, who then proceeded to look at her with a inquisitive look. "Time to move." After speaking she left Reale's sight and then returned with her own bag of an identical design.

Reale looked around when Pebble disappeared, there was multiple islands about on the horizon but none that she would describe as close. When Pebble returned she asked "Where to?"

Pebble opened her own bag to reveal flippers, a compressed wet suit, water-oxygen converter and a set of goggles. "An Island over there." she pointed to the closest islands on her right. "We swim up, I don't want the boat docked on that island as it's technically in a state of civil war. Teor and my parents will make their way to Trinidad when we leave, and then when we have what we want we will get a boat to greet them there."

Reale opened her own bag, inside she found the same kit as what was in Pebble's, and not one weapon. "Will we need weapons?"

Pebble shook her head in disbelief that the question had just been asked. "Yes."

Reale sighed, her own weapons weren't rated for submerging and were only splash proof. "I'll need to borrow a gun as I can't take mine swimming."

Pebble raised a brow before collecting her ACR and returning, after chucking the ACR into Reale's hands she threw a mostly empty water bottle into the ocean and gestured for Reale to take aim. "Don't know how your space age weapons work but I'll bet they don't work the same as ours. Shoot the bottle."

"Why give me the gun last night if I may not know how to use it?"

"I set it up for you. Now shoot the bottle."

Reale sighed, she felt like she was once again a young matron starting commando training. "Sure." After speaking she raised the weapon, then using the alternative iron sights over the installed x4 optics, she lined up the target and squeezed the trigger. Nothing happened, after squeezing a few more times and still nothing Pebble spoke up. "Safety is still on, all human weapons come with a flick switch on the left side of the gun above the trigger, my ACR requires that switch to be pointing up for semi-automatic fire."

Reale quickly found and then flicked the switch into the required position, after lining her sights up once more she squeezed and the gun reacted, releasing a deafening bang and shoulder bruising recoil, in shock she nearly dropped the gun causing Pebble to laugh and shake her head. "I've modified the weapon to shoot 6x50 bullets using a Cerberus commission gauss system for increased power and accuracy , using radio-active rounds it will be able to penetrate 8 inches of adaptive armour and fire 450RPM. So, it may not be the best weapon to start on." Getting her weapon back she then passed Reale a smg, a much less powerful, accurate, and clunky device, but still deadly. "Try again, you missed last time."

Reale looked to her target. "So I did." Lifting her weapon as she flicked the saftey off, something Pebble reactivated on her ACR when she got it back, Reale took aim and fired, this device had much less recoil which the Asari managed to keep under control as she sprayed the bottle with rounds, when the round was empty Reale looked back to Pebble. "Does this gun lack semi-automatic?"

"Yes, and you will use this weapon." Pebble passed over a reload and spoke again. "Now reload."

Reale looked at the smg, there did not appear to be a button or anything to press in order to remove the empty load, unlike like on the ACR she has already once dissembled.

"How?"

Pebble walked over and unclipped the round currently in the weapon. "Thats how."

/.../

When Pebble and Reale eventually hit land darkness had started to ascend upon the island, flames from war struck buildings give the sky an eeire orange glow and the wind carried a heavy scent of smoke. "Are you sure this is the place?"

Pebble looked around the coast line of the island. "Yep, keep close and put your wig back on."

When Reale put her wig back on and fixed it to hide her crests Pebble started on what seemed to be a fast paced jog up the shore line and into what appeared to be the most war torn section of the entire island, as they got closer and closer Reale's nerves increased exponentially, fighter jets could be heard constantly flying over head, heavy artillery started to land all around them and troops from the warring sides were constantly exchanging fire. After another mile or so running down a dark road Pebble came to a halt. "The place we need to be is less than half a mile down this road, the guy we need is an information broker who hides in an underground bunker."

"In the middle of a war zone?"

Pebble blinked and nodded. "Put it like this, who would think of having a home in the middle of a war zone?"

"Not many."

"That is my point, not many think it, so when people look for this guy they have a hard time finding him. Anyway we better keep moving."

/.../

Entering the brokers bunker was easier than Pebble anticipated with only a few electronic security systems slowing her down, the bunker the broker calls home was an old Mexican missile silo and quite small in size, it took her no more than a few minutes to find the man she wanted. Walking into the basement she heard loud music playing and fans of machines churning in an attempt to cool the super computers that kept the brokers network up and running. The person she wanted was sat in front of multiple monitors playing an old computer game while from the looks of things his computers were hacking into anything and everything possible. When she was just behind the broker she cleared her throat and then spoke.

"Terra?"

The man turned around on his chair to reveal himself, he was a young man no more than 30 years of age and his appearence was that of a classic 'geek', with a star wars shirt and glasses with lenses as thick as the bottom of jam jars. When he spoke he did it like a Salarian would, quickly and to the point. "This is an unexpected, but pleasant surprise."

Pebble slightly raised a brow to that. "You know who I am?"

The man nodded slightly. "Only Cerberus knows of my location, so my educated guess is a Ceberus operative, but curiously you do not come in usual attire."

Pebble walked around the room, as she did so she noticed the vast quantity of information displayed on multiple monitors spread across the room. "I have a job for you."

The man give a nervous laugh as Pebble and Reale Walked around the room. "My services cost alot of money, money I doubt you posses."

"Terra, Terra, Terra. Do you think I come all this way to your little bunker just to be told I don't have the resources to pay you?"

The man swallowed with a rather loud 'gulp' noise released. "Yes."

This caused Pebble to stop walking around the and turn to face Terra. "Can you remember when your family was under threat from the East's N program a few years ago?"

"Maybe, Your point is?"

"I was the one who over looked their protection and re-location, now don't you think that is enough of a payment?"

There was a slight pause before the man spoke. "Pebble?"

"In the flesh."

"Wow, I'm amazed your still alive right now, last document I got on you pretty much said you were royally fucked from one of your little radio heads. I mean literally how are you still moving? You should be dead right now."

Pebble wanted to grimace at that, but kept her emotions tight. "Drugs and beer. Now, lets suppose you failed to do me a little favour right now, what do you think is going to happen?"

Silence.

"Well, first of all, I'm going to drop a slight hint to both of the armies battling out there that this bunker isn't as empty as it first seems, I'm sure after they are finished bombing it you will be feeling a little toasty. Then after I watch you burn up I will visit your family, and tell them of how you personally signed their death certificate."

The man give another gulp before speaking. "What do you want?"

Pebble smiled and made her way over to Terra so that she was just a foot away. "Ceberus has some items, I need to know of the where abouts."

The man turned around on his computer chair and typed a few things into his computer, after a short time a large list of items ranging from protected individuals to top secret weapon programs appeared on a screen. "What type of items are you talking about?"

"Search extra terrestrial."

Terra turned in his chair and give Pebble a good look over before turning his attention to Reale, after squinting and humming for a short time he turned back around and started to type once more, as he typed he spoke. "When will it have been cataloged."

Reale came forward to look at the screen and replied. "Any time with in the last year."

The man sighed as he filtered the list down to 8 items. "Now what do you want? Captured aliens, technology or what?"

"This doesn't disturb you?"

The man turned around in his chair again to face Reale. "Look mam, this universe has billions of galaxies each of which contains billions of stars, if your telling me life can only exist on Earth you need your head examined, infact the only thing remotely disturbing about this is the fact that aliens know we exist, I mean imagine it, lets suppose they want a new colony set up here, it will be like Columbus and the Indians."

Pebble quickly explained. "Colombus was a European explorer who discovered the Americas many years back, he came with weapons hundreds of years more advanced than that of the natives, and greed, the locals didn't stand a chance."

Reale sighed as she digested and understood Terra's response, it was a typical pre-relay response to the discovery of advanced alien life. After a short time she replied. "What information on captured aliens do you have?"

As soon as the links were opened Reale knew instantly that the captured aliens were infact the slavers. After releasing a slight chuckle she spoke. "I bet those slavers are regretting that mission. What information on alien technology you got?"

The man pulled up another set of links, as he did so he spoke. "How did you know they were slavers."

"Wouldn't you like to know that..." As she looked through the links she got a sickly feeling grow in her stomach. "Athame, they have an eezo engine. Terra, where is this engine kept?"

The man turned slightly in his chair to face Reale. "Sorry, but this is now creeping me out, Ceberus have no clue as to what that thing is, how do you know what it is?"

Pebble laughed. "Us two are the indians my friend."

The man looked at Reale again. "Say what?"

"Where is this?"

Terra give her a long look before returning to his keyboard. "If your an alien I'm the queen of England." A few more clicks of his mouse and strokes of his keyboard brought up a location. "Ah, Cerberus HQ, surprise surprise. Pebble, I'm sure your familiar with that location."

Pebble nodded and turned to Reale. "Got everything you need?"

The Asari shook her head. "Is there anything else alien related on here?"

The man nodded. "I was reading this article..." He pulled up a top-secret article. "And it seems pretty alien to me."

The second Reale saw the article she stepped back and raised her hands to her head in frustration. "ATHAME!" Pebble and Terra give Reale a curious look, forcing her to explain. "It's a relay, your species should not know of its existence for at least another 50 years."

The man scratched his ear as he turned around to his computer and searched a new item. "Then your going to love this. All three alliances are about to agree to merge their space programs, the merged program is going to be called the System's Alliance or something like that, anyway they are going to try and get a man on one of your 'relays'."

Reale paced the room for a long time period, as she walked whisks of biotic energy escaped her control, eventually she ended her pacing by slamming a table with a biotically reinforced fist, when she calmed slightly she looked to Terra, who looked like he had seen a ghost. "Anything else I should know?"

The man sat frozen in obvious fright.

"I said, Anything else I should know?" The frustration in Reale's voice was quite apparent.

Eventually the man shook his head, and the second he did so Pebble put a bullet between his eyes. "Couldn't have him talking, now lets go."

/.../

Thanks for reading!


	20. Chapter 20

Right, this is a bit of a buffer chapter, nothing much happen's but you get to find out in a fun way a little more about one or two of the characters. Anyhow I enjoyed writing as its a little different from the usual and I got to be a bit creative with one or two small background facts of the story, hope you enjoy it.

/.../

Reale and Pebble were sat outside at a cafe in the middle of a small costal town watching it's harbour, it was still early in the morning and the boats that took people to, but mostly from the island were not yet running, yet despite this fact the town was already starting to buzz with life as fleeing civillians began to wait for their ticket off the island.

Seeing the already busy harbour Reale turned to Pebble who was nursing a coffee. "Are you going to be alright moving through the crowds?"

Pebble nodded and blinked. "Hopefully."

Reale didn't know if she quite believed Pebble, she talked as if she was confident, but there was something about her eyes that betrayed her voice, was it a look of fear she noticed or was it something else?

"Are you sure."

Pebble sighed and blinked again. "Yeah, lets just get changed out of these wet-suits, conceal our weapons and get going."

Reale nodded in agreement as she took a large swag of her hot chocolate.

/.../

Pebble's heart was pounding in her chest like a caged animal demanding its release, her eyes were constantly surveying her surrondings, sweat was dripping from her face as if she was stuck in a sauna, and her entire body felt stiff, currently Reale was collecting the boat tickets and Pebble felt lost as she waited in a crowd. When she felt a hand touch her shoulder her mind no longer felt anxiety clawing at it but flipped into combat mode, adrenalin rushed through her veins as she turned and ceased the arm that belonged to the hand touching her. The man who touched Pebble's shoulder did so to gain her attention and ask if she was alright due to her terrified and ill apperence, and deserved nothing of what was about to happen.

The instant Pebble had the mans arm under her control she snapped it like it was a stick, pulled twig out of its sheath and pushed the small blade deep into her unlucky victims under jaw, all this happened within a blink of an eye and by the time she realised what she had done the man was already dropping to his knees, she didn't know if he was dead or not, but it was very unusual for herself to leave survivors. After pulling twig out of her victim before the entire crowd knew of what she had done she ran off to find Reale. The second she saw the Asari she removed her knife and sheath and pushed them into Reale's hands. "Take it."

Reale looked down to the knife and noticed fresh blood running down the handle, what ever Pebble had done she presumed it wasn't good news. "Pebble, what happened?"

Pebble shook her head as she talked. "The idiot touched me." Then without explaining she walked off, she wanted to chase after Pebble and find out what exactly had went down, but the que was long and she was near the front, hopefully Pebble could hold on another five minutes without attacking anyone else.

/.../

Boarding the boat that would take them to Trinidad happened without any other incidents, the first thing Reale did when they got onboard was find out how long the journey would take, and then sit Pebble at a table in the ships bar.

Walking to the bar she looked over the drinks on offer before speaking to the bar-man. "What's your strongest bottled beverage?"

"Henry's at 47.2% Good pure or with a wide variety of mixers."

"I'll have two bottles and two glasses."

After getting the drinks Reale returned to the table and placed a bottle and glass in front of Pebble, then without waiting for Pebble to say anything she headed to the toilets, entered a cubicle, loaded her omni-tool and sent Teor a message requesting that Lynda and Charles be at the dock they were arrived at Trinidad, the reason for which would be obvious when they met.

/.../

Two thirds of a bottle of whiskey each later.

Pebble half giggled to her self as she heard the Spectre slur her words, it became very obvious after their first glass that Asari could not handle whiskey so by this point Reale was very drunk. "Reale, Reale, what does Spectre mean?"

Reale looked as if she was concentranting hard for a short time before speaking. "Special tactics an reecon-onisanence I think." Hiccup. "Wh-what does Cerberus mean?"

Pebble smiled at the slurring again. "So your the spec-ops of our galaxy."

"Sp... Spocks, I don't quite think that translates."

Pebble laughed once more and splutted the drink in her mouth out. "No you baboon. Speeeck oopppps."

Hiccup. "Yeah, I think so. What does Cerbrus mean?"

"Three headed dog."

It was now Reale's turn to laugh. "You can get them?"

Pebble shook her head. "I wished. Anyway tell me about yourself Spectre... Spectre, you know that is sort of fun to say."

Usually, in any other state of mind Reale would of been very tight lipped about this subject but in her current mind set she couldn't care, infact when she thought about it she kind of wanted to tell some one a little about herself. "Spectre... Spectre... you know what? It is. N What y [hiccup] Ou want to know?"

Pebble smiled and took another swag of her drink and poured some more into Reale's glass. "Is Reale your real name?"

Reale blinked as she took a sip of her drink. "Reale Thetya at your service."

Pebble blinked, nodded and then held her hand out to the Asari. "Ellie Collins, nice to meet."

Reale give the hand a pincer claw shake before proceeding to ask. "Why Pebble?"

The human seemed to be lost in thought for a short time before responding. "I used to pick up, and then store a Pebble for every kill, my old squad found it a rather amusing habbit and thus nick named me Pebble, I liked it and it stuck."

Reale hiccuped again before asking. "Do you wished you are, no were, still with your old squad."

Pebble shook her head. "Yes and no, I love the feeling of battle, to be frank I could say I am addicted to it, but I'm a broken machine incapable of performing my job, and If I was with my old squad I wouldn't of ever met Reale... Teor, or at least became good friends like we are."

The Asari sipped her drink again, it was a rather tasty dink that she definitely needed to stock up on before she returned home. "You and Teor [hiccup] Are you a thing?" As Reale said 'thing' she lifted her eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

Pebble shook her head. "No, were just good friends, besides, I know she has to go home."

"Have you ever been in a long term relationship?"

That was a definite answer for Pebble. "No, longest relationship I've ever had lasted a week, yourself?"

"142 be.. [hiccup] ..utiful years with my bondmate Fesi Thetya." Reale give a slight giggle, looked around to make sure no one was close and then continued. "Are you [hiccup] a virgin?"

Pebble became a deep shade of red at that question, looked around herself and then answered. "Maybe, depends who's asking. Any kids?"

"Me silly and three. Jaii is my youngst 30, Nium is mid [hiccup] dle at 57 and Keri is the eldeist at 88. Fesi wants another but for me to carry it, and... and I don't know, I would be restic retric agh resticricted to oversight duties, I don't know if [hiccup] I could do that when... when my squad would be putting themseves in danger."

Pebble leaned back in her chair, she would have never believed today would have end with the two of them plastered and talking about one another's more intimate lives if anyone told her so. "You want to carry a kid?"

Reale looked at Pebble with such conviction that Pebble would never question if she was lying. "YES. Just my squad [hiccup].."

"Are workmates and that's it. When are you going to put yourself and your family first?" In reality Pebble had no idea as to how much time Reale put aside for her family but she made an educated guess that it wasn't much.

Reale seemed to look off into space as she thought, then a short time later she came back. "I do give my family time."

Pebble shook her head. "Right now, your spending god knows however many days or weeks on this hostile planet away from your family."

The Asari picked up her nearly empty drink, tilted it in Reale's direction and then drank some. "Good point. After this mision I should go hom and take my wife [hiccup] to, to bed."

Pebble raised a hand to cover her eyes and shook her head. "Too much info, and good to hear."

There was a period of slience between the two as they both got themselves into a small drinking competition against one another, who could empty their glass first, when Pebble won she slammed her glass down rather hard on the table and give a slight cheer. "Unfair, this is a human [hiccup] drink."

Pebble shook her head. "I very rarely drink the whiskey."

Reale huffed to herself before asking. "When are you going to to tell you parents about your... your disease?"

Pebble shook her head, she didn't have it in herself to tell her parents such crushing news. "I'm not."

"Wha about when you can't look... after yourself?" Pebble displayed her last bullet and then hid it once more under her shirt. "Oh."

Pebble nodded and poured herself another glass before queering the Asari. "Hey, I.. I have a question. A common saying when we are a kid and we have no real conception of realism is that want to go visit the stars, but when I think about it, I don't know where I would go to visit. I mean is there like, beutiful holiday star systems out there or what?" After speaking it Pebble regretted the question instantly, what a stupid idea, holliday stay systems? What did that even mean?

Reale blinked. "You must visit Thessia, It's a beutiful place, if you weren't a human I would take you for a, a drink there after thi.. [hiccup] mis sion." Hiccup.

"And If I wasn't a human I, I would probably enjoy [hiccup] that, and god dam it, now I have the hiccups."

There was more silence pass between the two before Reale pipped up. "Dam, I'm tired"

Pebble laughed and then rubbed her hands together. "Time for the JAGER BOMBS!"

/.../

Trinidad dock. 1 hour later.

Pebble and Reale had to hold onto one another for stability as they dis-embarked from their ship, plastered wasn't the word, Reale was virtually passing out with every step and Pebble's world was spinning around her at vommit velocity. When Pebble's parents found her she puking her guts up into the sea off the dock's edge and Reale was passed out on the floor, the two parents looked at one another before snapping a picture for the record books and then helping the two drunken slobs back to their own boat.


	21. Chapter 21

Right, feels like this chapter goes back to this story's roots at the end. Enjoy.

/.../

"You look terrible."

Reale blinked slightly in response, her stomach felt un-easy and her head felt like it had a jack hammer thumping away inside. "Tell me about it."

Gar's mandibles flapped. "So, what was so important you missed a check in?"

Reale softly sighed, that was a very good question indeed. "The human flips in crowds, and killed some one on the island's dock just because she got touched when in a crowd, my plan was to get her intoxicated to the point where she was in-capable of harming any one if there was a crowd when we docked."

"I see. Did you show her how to drink?"

Reale shook her head and looked to the human who was still asleep. "It was like I challenged a krogan, and a big one."

"It ought to be sore then, you need some medical lotions?"

Reale glared at the small projected turian before giving a response. "I have some concerning news for the Council, I'll upload a report later and I want you to make it a priority one delivery."

Gar made a quick note. "Sure."

"Anything for you to report?"

Gar scratched the back of his neck, Reale was not going to like this. "The Asari councilor want's to know when you are coming home."

"For what reason?"

Gar shrugged. "Something to do with the Destiny Ascension and a visit to Little Bird by her majesty herself just prior to picking you up."

Reale lifted an eyebrow. "Really?" Gar blinked, despite himself being a Turian he had picked up many Asari habits due to Little Bird being mostly populated by Asari. "Do they plan to bring Ascension though this system's relay?" A shrug. "Get the Asari Councillor on coms, and tell her to read my latest report as soon as it arrives."

"May I ask what you found on that island?"

"Nothing but bad news."

/.../

Three hours later

"These are the co-ordinates."

Pebble looked up from searching for the boats fishing gear. "We there already?"

Charles nodded and disappeared from the living quaters allowing Pebble to continue her search, when she found what she wanted she dragged the gear to the outer hull and sat down next to a dozing Reale and rather happy looking Teor who was mesmirised by her omni-tool. "Whats got you so happy."

"Letter from my sister."

Pebble looked at her omni-tool, and then searched the fishing gear as she replied. "Contain good news?"

"Sort of."

Pebble pulled out a harpoon gun as she looked once more to Teor's omni tool. "That doesn't sound very convincing."

Teor collapsed what ever she was looking at on her omni-tool, leaving only the translator active, and shuffled around on her chair so she was better positioned to look at the contents of the box Pebble had dragged out of the living quaters. "Good news as my sister is well, but concerning as my mother's health seems to be suffering from stress."

Pebble nodded and pulled out a small fishing rod. "I'm sure a person of so many hundred years can shake off a little stress, and hopefully with news of you she will perk up. Oh, and can you swim?"

After reading Pebble's question, Teor looked like she had just been insulted. "I was born in water and could swim before I could crawl."

"So yes. You ever went fishing?"

"I used to catch fish with a small knife when I was little, it was a fun past time hobby if I remember correctly, why do you ask?"

Pebble began to inspect the harpoon she found earlier and looked to her Asari friend. "Well, we are floating just above an artificial reef that is quite popular with edible fish."

"Artifical reef?" Teor had heard of reefs before but never an artificial one.

"About 70 years back north America fought a war with south America, were currently above the location a large sea battle took place, anyway when the ships went down corral took over them and created a reef." After speaking Pebble found two sets of goggles, passed one to Teor and then held her hand out to help her up. "Come and I'll show you, quite a beutiful place if you ask me."

Teor took Pebble's hand and stood up, after she did so however she passed her goggles back to Pebble. "I don't need them."

Pebble raised a brow. "Sure? Our oceans are quite salty."

Teor shook her head at the humans ignorance, the general rule of the thumb stated that every planet with enough water to hold an ocean had salty seas, and Thessia was no exception. "I'm positive, and do you have a small knife or something I can kill a fish with?

Pebble didn't say anything as she passed Teor twig, but when Teor had a firm hold of the knife she spoke. "Be careful with that knife, its razor sharp, and saved my life more times than I can count, in other words I don't particularly want to part ways with it yet."

"I promise." After Pebble read the tools translation Teor removed it, placed it on her seat and then dove into the ocean, Pebble quickly shed her outer clothes to reveal a rather modest bikini, placed her goggles on and then dove in too. When she was under the water and looked around she was surprised at what she saw, Teor had already dove to the bottom and was swimming along side some large fish at a rather fast pace she could never hope to keep up with. Pebble watched Teor for a short time, the Asari appeared to be in her element as she swam among the wreckage's, exploring the corral and watching the fish. Eventually she was forced to resurface for air and then re-submerge but this time she didn't watch, she dove to meet Teor who was still living off her first breath, when the two met Teor instantly pointed to a large fish near by, Pebble could only guess she was pointing to ask if it was edible, so she nodded and then watched as Teor swam slowly to the fish and then plung the knife deep into its gills. After the kill Teor turned to Pebble, smiled at her, give her a thumbs up and then resurfaced.

/.../

"mmm, whats cooking?" After Reale had spoken to her crew she had occupied a deck chair and slept for most of the day, she had only just started to awaken.

It was Charles who answered. "That my dear is the one and only true sea side food, fish N chips."

"Fish N what?"

"Chips, thinly cut potatoes cooked in sunflower oil."

Reale groaned as she sat up and turned to face Charles, her head was still tender. "No idea as to what potatoes are."

"Oh." Charles disaperead to the living quarters before returning with a potato. "One of these bad boys." As he spoke he threw the potato through the air at the Asari.

Reale caught the vegetable and inspected it before saying, "looks vile."

Charles give a slight chuckle. "Don't mock till you try."

Reale passed the spud back to Charles as she asked. "Anything happen while I was out?"

"Teor caught tea, and then she got a call on her wrist computer from some doctor asking for a brain scan or something."

Reale raised a hand to her head, she desperately needed some water. "Did she get it sent off alright?" Charles shrugged. "Is she in the living quarters?"

"Yep with Pebble, I believe they are playing a game of chess."

Reale blinked and stood up to find Reale, however when she got in the living quarters she first got a cold bottle of fresh water out of the fridge, she could honestly say that the bottle contained some of the best water she had ever consumed. "Thirsty some?"

Reale didn't even turn to face Pebble as the water was so good, she continued to down the water till she needed a breath, and when she did she simply took a breath and continued till she finished the bottle, then after grabbing another bottle she turned to face Pebble. "Just a little, what on Thessia happened yesterday?"

The human smiled as she thought about the phrase 'what in thessia', and the previous night. "Jager bombs."

"Did we do anything inappropriate?"

Pebble shrugged. "Honestly don't know, and I don't want to know, but the safe answer is probably."

The spectre released a deep breath before looking at Teor and turning her neural adapter to galactic. "I heard my doctor requested a scan."

Teor blinked. "Yes, it was something about needing additional scans of the scarred tissue as well as my usual update."

"I take it you managed with the scans?"

Teor blinked again. "Yes, between myself and Pebble we managed."

"Good." The Asari pulled up a chair to sit next to Pebble and Teor. "What is this game you are playing then?"

The Asari looked back to the board in front of her. "I believe it's called chess."

"What you got to do." As she spoke Pebble moved her white bishop to place Teor under check. "Get your oppositions king in check-mate." After speaking she moved a pawn one space forward to block the bishops line of sight.

"King?"

Reale nodded as she watched the board intently. "Yes, it's a human term for a male in charge of a country under a monarchy."

"Whats the rules?"

After Teor explained the rules and made two more moves Reale spoke again. "Move your black bishop two B6, if you don't she will check-mate you in two moves."

"How come?" Teor looked at the board but couldn't see where the check mate would come from.

"The queen and white bishop is a distraction, her rook is about to take your pawn and her black bishop your knight, once she does that it's game over."

Pebble who had been reading Reale's translator raised her hands in the air in mock frustration. "Jesus, just give away my entire game plan why don't you?"

"Reale smiled, this seemed like an interesting game she could certainly get into. "Your welcome."

/.../

"So, before I leave this planet I need to stock up on your hot-chocolate and chips."

Pebble nodded as she gulped down a large mouthful and then said. "Yep, nobody dis-likes chips, and I mean literally nobody."

"Your species economy will certainly do well when you join us in relay travel, your chocolate stuff will be bought like mad by my own species alone, chips probably by everyone except Turians and Quarians and your fur will certainly sell."

Pebble shook her head. "You made that sound like your going to buy our hair and not animal fur slash synthetics."

"Can't we?"

Pebble shrugged her shoulders. "If there is money in it, probably."

"Hm. But one thing that won't sell is your cutlery."

Pebble looked at her knives and forks. "If you think these are bad try chop-sticks, infact what do you guys even use to eat with?"

Teor replied. "Knives and sitivers, think of a rod that starts fat, ends thin and uses tiny micro barbs to hook your food, personally however I now prefer a fork."

Pebble picked up her fork and examined it as she said "Well, what ever floats ya boat, but I know where my allegiance lies."

"What was it your father says, don't try till you mock?"

"Other way round, don't mock till you try." Pebble nodded and sat back in her chair to relieve some pressure off her over filled stomach, as she did so Teor asked. "When will we get back?"

Pebble rubbed her head as she thought, she too was suffering from yesterdays activities however she wasn't quite as bad as Reale. "Sometime tomorrow near noon, missing Russel already?"

"Actually I am, why did we have to leave him again?"

"If you can believe it, he is scared of water." Pebble didn't think about her alien friends lack of knowledge on canines as she continued. "I know, who would have thought it? A dog scared of water. Ha"

Reale replied. "Not us. Anyhow will you have any maps of Ceberus HQ at your parents?"

Pebble laughed as she shook her head. "Plans of that place was strictly guarded, I can probably draw you a map of the barracks but that is it, its too big and changes too often to remember any relevant information, I can give you maps of the surrounding area though. Also I should probably inform you now that your on a suicide mission, the place is protected by hundreds of loyal soldiers bought with priceless money, things like a life saving operation for a child dying of some horrid disease, then you have the drones that protect the perimeter, multiple bio-scanners once inside and turrets protecting TIM and any highly classified areas, which I would bet an arm and leg that your little engine is inside."

"TIM?"

Pebble nodded and blinked as she continued. "Yeah, the Illusive Man, its the traditional name given to the top dog as nobody quite knows who he is, so his capture is not an option for Ceberus's enemies."

"Suicide mission or not, I am not leaving this planet till my task is complete."

"Then that is your call, but to attack that place on your own is down right crazy."

Reale smiled. "I am not going to attack, but infiltrate."

Pebble shook her head. "Maybe you missed the part about the bio-scanners."

/.../

The Turian primark read over the report in front of him. "This human sounds like quite a fighting force."

His personal aid who had brought the report to his attention responded. "Imagine an army of these humans under your control, you could turn it into a force which will see our people gain power over the Asari."

The primark sat back in his chair and clasped his hands, that was certainly an appetising idea. "What do you suggest?"

The aid approached the primarks table and placed a data pad on his desk. "I have had our best strategists work on this plan, but we need to wait till they conquer the relays first."

The turian read the data pad. "Wait till they attempt to activate a relay, claim they were breaking galactic laws and start a war, then prior to earth invasion we agree too a treaty giving us control of their military, and in return we don't invade, smart, but before I set this plan in motion I want a human captured and its strengths, weaknesses, and gentic code thoroughly studied."

"I'll see to its completion."

/.../

Cheers for reading!


	22. Chapter 22

Right chaps, as a reviewer correctly pointed out last chapter (Hats off to the guy who pointed it out!), Omni-gel was a human invention so a line from last chapter mentioning it has been changed. Don't want any of you thinking aliens invented it or anything.

Also I may be silent for a while, I'm moving around and not sure as to when I'll have my computers and internet up and running again, hopefully it will be a week or two at the most, but I have alot of stuff to do so may not get around to getting CH 23 written for a short time. Just a heads up, I'm not stopping the story.

/.../

"Again." Reale drooped her head in self defeat, she had been trying to learn how to manually override the locked doors that she would inevitably encoutner at Cerberus HQ, but was failing miserably at it.

"If my device didn't work, I would have used my biotics by now to simply tear it down."

Pebble shook her head. "And in doing so you will alert every tom dick and harry in the station of your location and nature, give it one more shot."

Reale sighed and looked once more to the PCB in front of her. "Right, give me the sequence of events one more time."

"Relay." Pebble waited for Reale to pretend to bypass the relay with some pliers. "Thyristor." Once again pebble waited for Reale to complete a set of tasks required to bypass the thyristor. "Transistor 1." After Reale applied a potential difference to the base pebble continued. "IC 1." Reale pretended to short-circuit pin 14 of IC1. "IC 7" When Reale failed to identify IC 7 Pebble spoke up. "LM741" Reale found the opamp but failed to remember her task. "It's currently set up as a non-inverting opamp, you need it configured to inverting." Reale blinked, performed the task and then looked to Pebble. "Now this is the tricky bit..."

/.../

"YES! Take that you piece of Krogan dirt!" It was three hours later and Reale eventually managed to complete the sequence in less than two minutes.

Teor looked up from her omni-tool, for the last few hours while Reale and Pebble worked on the lock she had been writing a letter for her mother. "I take it you have got the swing of it?"

Reale looked at the PCB. "For show."

Pebble added to Reale's comment. "Yeah, but you have to get faster, the doors have an anti-corruption subsystem which will permanently lock the door and alert security if you take longer than about 90 seconds."

The small bubble of success that Reale was feeling came collapsing back down. "Seriously?"

Pebble give her a look that simply said 'what do you think?' So with a slight huff Reale picked the PCB back up and began to work, allowing Teor to speak again. "By any chance are any of you cold?"

Both Pebble, and Reale replied at nearly the same time once they read the translation. "No."

"Hmm, I feel like I am on the ice world Noveria and seriously tempted to go to bed early."

Pebble looked at a small clock inside the cabin, it was nearly 2230. "I'm about to open a bottle or two in ten while watching the sun set if you fancy it?

Teor shook her head and clenched her fists. "No thank you, to be honest I just want to get into bed where it's warm."

"Right, well we will make this our last attempt."

/.../

Four hours later.

Pebble slowly opened her eyes to look at the cause of her consciousness, Teor was knelled down by her on the floor. Pebble released a quiet groan before saying. "What's up?" and then rubbing her eyes in preperation for reading Teor's translator.

The second Teor spoke and Pebble removed her hands from rubbing her eyes she knew what was wrong, Teor's voice was broken up and the young asari was visibly shaking, something Pebble found odd as the night wasn't exactly cold when compared to her nights up north where it was winter. "I - I'm f-f-fre-ezing, d-d-d-do y-ou h-h-a-ave a-a e-ext-tr-tra bl-blanket?"

Unfortuantely for Teor, they had no additional blankets and because of that fact Pebble was currently having to sleep in a cramped sleeping bag, Pebble was about to suggest that the Asari put on some clothes but then noticed she was already wearing two layers, maybe Reale has something in her kit? Pebble thought back to all the times Reale had been in her kit but could only remember seeing the sleeping bag Reale herself was currently sleeping in. Sighing, Pebble was left with only one idea. "No, I have an idea however, but it means we will have to get friendly."

The Asari was shaking so much that Pebble knew what her answer was going to be. "Fr-frien-dly."

Pebble quickly crawled out of her bag, placed it ontop of the bed Teor was sleeping on and then placed her blanket ontop of it. "We both sleep in the bag."

Teor didn't need to be told twice, she crawled in as soon as the words were out of Pebble's mouth and then looked expectantly at the human when she was in, Pebble looked down to the expecting Asari, shrugged and then crawled in, during one antartic mission completed with Ceberus she had to get very friendly with her squad to preserve heat while they waited for an extraction, this would be nothing in comparison. When Pebble was in the bag and readjusted the outer blanket so it once more covered them Teor wrapped her arms and legs around her, pulled her close and hugged her in a desperate attempt to find warmth.

/.../

Pebble sat with a coffee as she listened to the latest news aired over the radio, as Terra had predicted, a new 'systems alliance' was announced, some peace treaties were established, and multiple new space adventures and goals for humanity to strive for was outlined. While Pebble thought it was sort of exciting news, the prospect of venturing out into deeper space, she also knew that the news wouldn't settle well for one individual in particular. After turning the radio off Pebble refocussed her thoughts back to her night being a human hot water bottle for her Asari friend, Teor had shook all night despite the inside of the sleeping bag feeling like that of a slow cooker, it worried her.

"You look lost in a world of thought."

Pebble nodded to Reale who was just awakening and then took a sip of her beverage before responding. "That I am."

"Something important?"

Pebble shook her head before quickly checking on her sizzling bacon. "Maybe, does your species ever get prolonged periods of shivering?"

Reale pulled herself out of her own sleeping bag, put the kettle on for her own hot chocolate and then replied. "Occasionally we catch something called the Thessian shivers, why?"

"Serious?"

Reale clenched her fists slightly as she poured the contents of a hot-chocolate sachet in a mug. "Not particularly, just not very pleasant."

"When did you last have it?"

Reale shook her head in a ever so human fashion. "A few weeks ago, why?"

Pebble nodded towards Teor. "She sends her gratitude."

Reale put her mug down, approached a still sleeping Teor, placed a hand on her head to get a rough feeling of her temperature and then returned to her mug. "Yeah, looks like she is coming down with it."

"Fantastic, how long does it last?"

Reale had two answers to this, a few hours if she give her some medication she had on her, but due to the fact she had no support till pick up she didn't like the idea of giving away some of her limited antibiotics for something as simple as the shivers, so her only other answer was a few days. "4, maybe 5 days at the most, she will more than likely just want to sleep though it all."

Pebble got her bacon out of the pan and slapped it in a bun before returning to the table and replying. "Not as long as I was fearing then, do you want some bacon thrown in? and whats the full list of symptoms?"

Reale shook her head, she had tried bacon earlier in the week and it didn't exactly settle well in her stomach due to its incredibly salty nature. "No thanks, and basically just severe shivering and extreme tiredness slash exhaustion."

"Okay, will her body temperature drop or rise much?"

Reale nodded as she sipped her drink and replied shortly after. "Yeah, usually drops about 6-7 kelvin." _**[**6-7 DC or approx 13FH, 1k = 1DC or 1k ≈ 1.8FH **]**_

Pebble give an impressed whistle before saying. "Dam, if our body gains or losses just two degrees our organs start to shut down."

Reale give a slight smile. "Hm, you humans ain't as ruggard as I first thought then, we can lose 11 kelvin without it becoming life threatening and gain 9k, mind we are basically in a hormone induced coma at these temperatures with most of our organs in a dormant state, only our immune system, repository and circulatory systems stays fully functional."

"Okay, maybe at this point I should ask, is this thing contagious to us humans as we certainly can't do that."

Reale clenched her fists, relieving Pebble's worries. "Not to my knowledge, although if you do get any suspicious infections or fevers I want you to contact me instantly, failing that my ships second in command Gar."

Pebble nodded fully heartedly in agreement. "Actually, how common is it for diseases and virals to pass between species?"

Reale shrugged. "Very few diseases actually pass between species, but for the rare few that do pass between us it becomes a galactic problem meaning trillions are instantly spent to combat it."

"Is it that serious?"

Reale nodded. "Yes, a simple virus your body can shrug off could mean death to any one of the other species in our galactic community, due to the fact it is an alien disease our species has never fought and will have no evolutionary traits to fight off."

"Yikes."

"Yes, yikes."

/.../

Pebble felt Teors fore head, it was incredibly warm, but she trusted Reale and her medical knowledge so pushed her fears to the back of her mind and give Teor a slight nudge. "Teor."

The sleeping Asari didn't even batter an eyelid.

"Teor." This time Pebble give the Asari a gentle shake. Teors eyes opened barely enough to be called a slit before she closed them again. "Teor, wakey wakey."

The asari released a slight groan and nothing else.

"Come on sleepy, were docked at my parents"

Teor murmured something before turning over causing Pebble to roll her eyes.

"Do I have to get Russell?" Another murmur.

Pebble smiled, Russell was a professional at waking some one from a deep sleep, after shouting for her dog Pebble sat back and watched the pro work. Russell came bounding onto the ship, ran inside and leapt onto the bed closest to Pebble with the initial intention of stealing a pillow, however Teor groaned slightly at the dog which only caused Russell to change his intentions and worm his way under the covers just to lick at her face, or any other exposed skin and stick his cold nose everywhere else. Teor shrieked at the dog before beginning to laugh as she attempted to push him off, but this only upped the dogs efforts, Teor made it a game, and a game Russell intended to win.

Whilst the pro worked Pebble wondered if what she was doing was cruel to the Asari and should just let her sleep, but if the Asari was in her parents house, keeping an eye on her condition and attending to her needs would be much easier than in her current location on the boat. It wasn't long till Teor sat up and rubbed her eyes, as she rubbed her eyes Pebble spoke. "Come on, my old room is ready for you."

Teor read her tool before pulling it off her wrist, pacing it on the bed just inf front of her and wrapping the blankets she was asleep under around her. "Is it cold?"

Pebble shook head. "Thessian shivers."

The Asari sighed and blinked, she suspected such but didn't want to admit the fact in case it was just cold and she jinxed herself. "Reale fill you in?"

Pebble nodded. "Yep, told me everything I need to know."

Teor stood and yawned before speaking again. "Do you mind if we go now? I'm tired, cold and generally feel exhausted, all I want is to climb back into a bed and sleep this thing away."

Pebble picked up Teors omni-tool before leading her to the bedroom, despite it being a warm day and the bedroom only a minute or two's walk away from the boat the Asari was servery shivering again when she got in the bedroom and collapsed straight into the bed Pebble had prepared, and then climbed under the multiple layers of quilts.

/.../

After supper Pebble found the spectre in her parents study looking with a deep focus over a map, when she approached and spoke the Asari jumped slightly. "There is a cliff at 732,164.177,141, its a good vantage point."

The Asari found the co-ordinates before speaking. "Thank you for that information."

"No problem. When you thinking of moving out?"

Reale leaned back in her chair. "I plan on getting a train to the nearest town tomorrow at 0737."

Pebble nodded and leaned back against a wall for support. "Whats your plan when you get there?"

"Secure myself some shelter and then simply observe the site for a week or two, get to know any routines and then decide if I want to watch it for any more time before I act."

"Hmm, if you have that much time why not wait for a few days and I'll drive through the town to drop you off as I make my way back home."

"Because if things do go Krogan I don't want them knocking on your door because some one saw you dropping me off."

Pebble nodded, really she should of thought of that, spoke too soon. "Good point, and if things do go.." Pebble raised her hands to make quotation marks "Krogan... What is the plan for Teor?"

"My team will pick Teor up at these co-ordinates." Reale got a new map out and pointed at a location that was relatively close to Pebble's home. "My team will contact Teor to give her a time and date."

Another nod. "Understood. One last thing, if you get in any serious trouble will you have back up?"

Reale clenched her fists as she shook her head. "No because of some very complex reasons I can't be hassled to get into."

Pebble sighed as she thought, eventually after a short silence she spoke. "Right then, if you can get to a safe location and lose the scent of Ceberus I can help you out, If you can't shake them I can't do anything with out putting Teor at serious risk." After speaking Pebble give the spectre a look which simply said she was on her own in that case.

"I would expect no less."

"Very well, as long as you know my position."

/.../

"Dom?"

Dom didn't turn to look at his XO as he fired his weapon at Ceberus HQ firing range. "Listening."

"Tim wants words."

Dom fired the remaning rounds in his gun before turning and making his way to a small communications room, when he entered a small scanner made sure his genetic profile matched that of who he claimed to be and then a screen light up revealing a rather thin man sat in a luxurious red leather recliner, his face was obscured by darkness. "I hear you have been told we are being shut down?" Dom didn't say a word as he leaned against a console. "I always like that about ground troops like yourself, you like to remain silent but silence can sometimes say a whole lot more than words."

"Not in our field of work."

"True." The man raised a small whiskey glass, took a sip and then continued. "Your current assignment, do you find it... satisfactory work?"

"I preferred the days when we were deployed and fighting the N's."

The man took another sip. "As did I as we now face an unknown enemy a thousand times more dangerous." There was a short pause as the man reached down and picked up a small folder. "I read Dale's report, the observer, on your last deployed mission against our unknown enemy, I'm impressed with what I read."

"Thank you."

"It is unfortunate you lost a man in the field and the alien vessel however."

"Yes, but an unavoidable loss."

"Debatable. Now first thing first, I want you to recruit a new team member to complete your squad, and then I am setting funding aside so you can develop a secondary squad specialising in shock tactics and urban warfare."

Dom scratched his jaw and spoke. "I already know who I want and sure, shouldn't be a problem."

the man took another sip. "I thought not and who?"

"Ellie Collins."

Tim instantly replied. "Denied."

"If you don't mind asking, why? She is the best in her field, we have the resources to fix her leg, and we know her."

Tim give a short laugh. "The reason is classified, I'm sending over info of some new recruits I think will fit well in your squad."

"Understood, and I take it Ceberus is no longer being shut down then?"

despite Tim's face being in the dark his head movements were still visible and a shake could be seen. "No, the president was convinced that our ability to defend ourselves from an extraterrestrial threat would be significantly diminished if our R&D and shock response teams were taken out of the equation."

"Understandable."

"Yes. Moving on, Terra has gone dark, go find him."

/.../

/.../

Cheers for reading!


	23. Chapter 23 Version 2

Okay, I got things sorted out a bit quicker than anticipated, so I managed to get this up a heck of a lot earlier than I thought I would have been able to. Before I get to it thought there is one or two things.

To avoid confusion, I will tell you now Batha is a character who may become important later in this story. (you will understand as you read, her name randomly appears.)

A user has informed me of a mistake I've been making all through this story, misspelling Rifle as Riffle, issue fixed / getting fixed. (Cheers for pointing it out again!)

Okay, that's it, enjoy!

/.../

Dom and harry were laying prone on a hill facing Terra's bunker, or what was left of it since Pebble had essentially called the warring sides to shell it to smithereens after she was done at the place.

"Turns out early 21st century bunkers aren't as indestructible as they first seem."

Harry replied as he looked down his binoculars "hmm. TIM ain't gunna be happy about this, also the chemical analysis is complete, shelled by both sides."

"Not in the least, and great, send the recruit down into the refugees port, lets see if his profile suits his ability, and see if he can sniff up any evidence of who's responsible."

/.../

**3 days later.**

People do anything for power, and it was an exploit Pebble often used in warfare, but today it served another purpose. When Pebble found out the Asari councillor wanted Teor to do an interview with some big name for a reason which she suspected was for publicity, she suggested the Asari black mail her into first letting her speak to her family over a direct line, the same line used to speak with the big name, and the same line Reale used to talk directly and securely to the council.

So due to this councillors wish to have good publicity made from Teor, Teor was now talking to her mother and sister.

As soon as the video comm-link of her family activates Teors sister shrieked. "What is that thing!"

Teor smiled as she pulled Russell back from the Omni tool's camera. "That is my saviors dog."

Teor's mother eyed the dog carefully. "It doesn't look very friendly, keep your distance."

Teor shook her head in a human fashion as she pulled the dog close and scratched its ear. "Probably one of the friendliest animals I have ever come across, and I'm doing fine, thanks for asking."

"Are you sure? I heard you contracted the shivers?"

"Thus the quilt wrapped around me, and I take it you're in contact with Little Bird's doctor then?"

The matriarch blinked. "Yes, now give me a look."

It took the younger asari a short time to work out that her mother was talking about her crest.

As she turned her head Geiger spoke. "Ooof, I bet that was painful."

Teor turned back to face her grimacing mother and sister. "Probably, can't remember it."

"Hmm, first thing you are doing when you get back is getting an examination by a specialist for your scar tissue, and I've spoken to a few doctors, they think from the scans submitted plus your description in the letters that they should easily be able to re-grow it for you."

Teor shook her head. "Naa, I sort of like missing it now, gives me a bit of character, so may keep it this way for a while longer yet."

Am'ber clenched her fists off screen, her daughter would get her crest fixed whether she liked it or not, but she didn't want to argue about it now. "Hmm. I see E561 is giving you some bad habits, this shaking of the head and slang needs to stop when you get home."

Teor rolled her eyes and shook her head with an exaggerated motion . "Its Earth not E561, and stop taj picking, I don't want to get depressed. Now hows life going at home?"

/.../

"And this is the house's armoury, from the music I'm guessing Pebble is inside."

In the Armory 'Shoot to thrill' by AC/DC was blasting out of some speakers and Pebble was bent over a large Widow Rifle tinkering with the trigger mechanism, she failed to notice the Asari enter the room and approach, because with the music, the guns lying around and the fact it she was in the armory, Pebble was in her own happy little world, a nuclear bomb could be dropped at this second and she wouldn't notice.

Pebble pulled the trigger on the weapon, causing the widow to release a ear deafening bark and a loud shriek from Teor who didn't expect Pebble to fire the weapon, looking at what the gun fired at Teors eyes widened, a large concrete block was just decimated. "Athame, are you alright?"

Teor nodded and looked back to the camera. "Yes, I'm fine, the human just fired her gun."

Pebble turned around after hearing Teors voice... shriek... in her place of sanctuary, nodded quickly to say hey and then turned back around, unaware of the video call taking place. "Is that the human?"

Teor nodded as spoke. "Yes." Then clearing her voice slightly she spoke louder in Pebble's direction. "Pebble?" Pebble turned around. "Family." She then looked at her tool and spoke back in her native tongue. "Mam, Consta, Pebble."

Pebble tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, turned the music down and then nodded to the omni-tool. "Hey." She didn't say anything else knowing that the likely hood of her being understood right now was minimalistic.

Both Geiger and her mother bowed their heads in a sign of respect and replied the same but in their own tongue, neither saying any more because of the same reason as Pebble.

After Teor left the room leaving Pebble in peace Geiger pipped up. "Did you see the size of that gun?"

"Yes, and I dont think that is the biggest weapon in her arsenal."

"Batha would certainly love a go on them." Mused the matriach.

Teor raised a slight brow in agreement. "Yes, infact she would probably love ago on any of Pebble's weapons, with humans lacking biotics they have learned how to make from the looks of things, incredibly efficient weapons, Pebble's standard assault rifle is nearly as big as Batha's sniper."

Geiger give an impressed whistle while Am'ber give a more concerned look. "I hope for our sake these humans learn to play friendly."

/.../

"That my friend is Pebble." The new recruit give harry a puzzled look forcing him to continue. "Used to be a part of our squad."

"I take it Dom and Pebble had something? From the way he reacted he looked pretty nifted"

Harry laughed as he shook his head. "No, ha, Dom actually had her shot with radios." Harry give a quiet sigh. "They were always at each others throats, in fact, for a long time she was the leader of the squad till Dom did some back stabbing."

"So why exactly aren't we going after her?"

Harry smiled at that fact, but he wasn't sure if he should be. "Cos we would require the entire western army, the N program and ourselves to win the battle, or in all seriousness because TIM says we aren't allowed, and what TIM says is law."

"She really that good and why wouldn't we be allowed to go after her?" questioned the recruit

Harry shrugged as he checked his beans cooking over a stove. "You have no idea and she's probably balls deep undercover or something equally complex, now quit the questions, if Dom hears you, ya will join Pebble with the after effects of a Radio passing through your body."

/.../

"Are we ever going back to yours?" Queried Teor.

Pebble hummed and hared for a short time. "Not sure, I was originally planning to retreat to a hide out location, but I know how much you hate the cold and this place is literally in the middle of the Antarctic, food would have to be severely rationed, and I wont be able to get my pain killers easily for when I need to restock."

Teor removed her tool, placed it so Pebble could see it and then walked behind her with glowing hands. "I could try to give you a massage every day? If needed."

Pebble grinned, that certainly sounded like an appealing prospect, but she had to be realistic. "After your hands, I don't think I could possibly make myself do anything other than relax, house work would be ignored for an indefinite time."

As Teor replied she placed two hands lightly on Pebble's neck. "Are you sure? I could help out around the house."

Pebble closed her eyes and learned her head forward as the Asari's hands worked. "Mmm, then again..."

"Then again...?" Teor moved to a sensitive area just beneath the hairline.

Pebble groaned in pleasure "That's, that's a nice spot."

Teor smiled at the effect her fingers were having, there is a saying in throughout the galaxy, the fingers of a Massō Cliff Masseuse are worth a billion credits and the groan Pebble just released was evidence that the saying was indeed correct. "You were saying?"

"The place isn't even a house, its like a... ohh yeah, right there... ooh... erm, ah, like a research station."

"Does it have a bed and radiator?"

"Uh hu... one bed though..." Teor continued to massage in silence for a short time till Pebble spoke again. "No, too many issues... ooh yeah... back to my house, leave when you get rid of shivers." There was more silence for a short duration. "Although, you can still massage me, you know, payment."

Teor moved her fingers lower to the base of Pebble's neck. "Well, I do need to learn all your sensitive spots for when your people join us in relay travel, also I need to ask a small favour of you█"

"Right now... I think I would do anything for your fingers." Right now Pebble honestly felt like she would do anything for her massages.

"The big name apparently wants to have a talk with both of us, together."

Pebble really wanted to shrug, but she couldn't be hassled with the motion. "Sure... not an issue."

/.../

/.../

Shorter than my usual but meh, just means I get to work on the next chapter a bit quicker.

Cheers for reading!


	24. Chapter 24

Okay a few things first.

A reviewer suggested 2 chapters ago that the human body can drop more than 2 degrees before human organs begin to shut down, this is true, at 2 degrees it's severe hypothermia that kicks in and not organ failure, my bad, poor research on my behalf. This will be changed accordingly, but instead of changing the temperature loss I'm going to re-write it so it conveys the effects of hypothermia.

This chapter features drugs and the hint that Pebble may do some, I am yet to decide on if she will or not, if I get any comments strongly against Pebble doing them I will defo not do it, but It is something I have a good few Ideas for.

Finally, sorry about the end...

/.../

Teor scanned Pebble's chest as she spoke. "Are you sure this is not just a cough?"

Pebble shook her head, she knew this was going to happen sooner or later. "100%. Space doc is just going to confirm what I already know, there's blood, blood and cough is bad news."

Teor saved the results and then proceeded to contact the ships doctor. "Teor, It's good to hear from you, how may I be of a service?"

Teor looked Pebble in the eyes before responding. "Hey, Pebble has had a cough now for a good few days, I was hoping you could see if its anything serious."

"Took a scan?"

"Yes, uploading now."

There was some clucking of the tongue heard along with some haring. "Well, I'm not an expert on humans, but the appearance of a growth and excess of fluids doesn't look very healthy when compared to the last scan, Teor, may I ask, how much pain killer is this human on?"

Teor looked to Pebble and then back to the screen. "Alot, she has just recently started injecting it directly into her spinal column."

The doctor released a knowing blink and sigh to Teor. "Very well. While we are talking do you also want to upload your daily scan?"

"Yes, but that's it? Nothing else on the matter such as ways of reducing the coughing?"

The doc sighed. "Look Teor, I can't really say anything with out a full examination of her body, and genome without more precise tools, and even then if the council found out about these un-authorised scans I would probably be dragged over the coals, there is very little I can do."

"What about Reale, can't she get something? Claim it's for the good of the mission?"

The doc clenched her fists as she give a sympathetic smile. "Teor, I'm sorry but even Reale's powers are limited."

Teor groaned in defeat. "Fine, I'll have Pebble scan the scarred tissue now."

/.../

"Doc? This is a pleasant surprise."

The ships doctor clenched her fists. "Unfortunately not, I've been forced to reduce Pebble's life expectancy by two months."

Reale brought a hand up to her forehead in thought, she really wanted more time to scout out the Cerberus base."Ah dam."

"Yes, dam indeed."

Reale sighed, this really wasn't good news and the result was going to have to be a complete change to her mission. "Alright, I'm moving the infiltration to two weeks time, I'll give Gar the rest of the details."

/.../

"Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome to THE 500th episode, and series 10, you heard that right, 10TH! series of the Faijain Weekly Talk Show..." Pebble rolled her eyes after reading the translation, even a super advanced species such as the Asari had talk shows apparently, she had only ever watched a few, and hated the one or two she had seen for their pointless chit-chat a mile from the initial topic and poor attempts of humour.

"Now, now..." The host waited for the introductory applauding to end, an act that surprised Pebble as apparently clapping was now a galactic gesture. "...many of you have heard the rumours, rumours regarding two incredibly special guests on tonight's show... Well." The host smiled slightly. "Well, I am proud and honoured to have on my sofa tonight Matriach Am'ber, the doting mother of Teor Am'ber and Councillor Athame, the Asari councillor pushing for Teors' Rescue." There was a slight applaud from the crowd and quiet murmuring but nothing spectacular, the host obviously had been expecting this as her face turned into a huge grin at the less than enthusiastic reaction. After greeting the Asari's she turned her attention straight back to the crowd. "Not who you were expecting?"

One or two NO's! could be heard from the crowd, making the hosts grin that much larger. "Well then, maybe this is who you were expecting, beaming all the way from an unknown sector in our small galaxy and a a planet called E561, please put your hands together for Teor, and her Justicar in armour, Pebble."

Pebble quickly sighed and commented to her friend. "This is going to be awkward."

Due to the way the omni-tool was set up: a mad scientist Frankenstein looking frenzy of cables and connections to Pebble's parents TV, the translator on Teor's tool was still active allowing the two to read what was being said. Teor nodded in agreement. "Just a little."

"Teor, Pebble are you there?"

Pebble wanted to shake her head, there was a large live picture appear in the hosts studio that proved she was there, but she supposed it was to get the conversation flowing. Teor spoke first. "Yes Faijain, we are here, and I have to say the honour is ours."

"Nonsense and excellent, the connection appears to be holding, however if that changes, Teor please know we are all keeping a vigil for your safe return over here."

Teor blushed slightly, the thought that millions may be holding a vigil for her safe return was certainly an unnerving thought. "Thank you for your thoughts, but I'm sure with Pebble's protection and the spectre's crew I am guaranteed to get home sooner or later."

The host sat down so she was next to Teors mother and the councillor. "Amen to that. Now..."

/.../

A seemingly human lifetime later...

"The children of Amarli West Jacouon secondary school have submitted some question and are hoping that you would possibly answer them. The first one I have chosen to be asked is from Chevok Tulin, aged 46, aimed at Pebble, the question is, 'why did you save Teor?'."

Pebble shook her head and laughed slightly, secondary school at 49? And that was a question and a half at least. Pushing the idea of 49 year old secondary school student out of her head she responded. "My reasons have changed over time, initially I was just curious of Teor, and I had a promise to keep, the full details I'm not diving into as its rather personnel, but now, now I'm doing it to save a friend and I have nothing to lose by doing it."

"You say you have nothing to lose, what exactly do you mean by that?"

"As in there is nothing long term the people who are hunting for us can take from me."

"Not even your family."

Pebble shook her head. "I've been in a dangerous profession for a very long time, they know the drill if anyone comes for them."

"If you say so we believe it, the next question is aimed at Teor, the question from Yougosil aged 24 is: 'What do you find most challenging about living on Earth?"

Teor thought this was a rather easy question. "I come from an area where it rarely dips below 300 Kelvin, Pebble's place rarely exceeds 270 kelvin, I would say just staying in the house is the real challenge, because it comes with its own challenges such as finding something to do and entertain myself with day in day out."

"Okay then, lets stay on that topic, what exactly do you get up to on a standard day?"

"Wake up when I wake up, send some medical info to the Spectre's doctor, eat a human breakfast called a full English, so that's basically meat piled high with some bread on the sides, play with Russell.." Teor looked around the room, Pebble's dog wasn't in sight. "Russell!" After shouting the dogs name she give it a second or two for the dog to come bounding into the room, at the appearance of the dog there were a few murmurs but nothing excessive released from the crowd. "Galaxy, meet Russell, anyway getting back on topic, I spend a lot of time training and playing with this guy, Pebble's..." She had to push Russell down, usually she stored a treat in a pocket and Russell was on the hunt. "...Dog."

When the dog jumped back up it was Pebbles voice that got the dog to settle. "Russell Down!"

"Thanks, anyway then I eat tea which consists of even more meat and some vegetables, then I often play a board game or two with Pebble, after that Pebble often goes to clean her weapons or something, so I'll play with Russell again, then watch something called the nature channel, eventually the day ends with me and Pebble watching silent movies where speech isn't involved."

The host looked at some notes before back to the camera and at Pebble, "Sorry, I am in a bit of disbelief here, Pebble do you keep this animal, your dog, in your house as a pet?"

Pebble pulled the dog close to herself and began scratching its under-chest. "Yea, in fact, we humans have a saying, a dog's a man's best friend" She pulled Russell even closer allowing her to play with, and scratch the dog little more roughly. "Ain't that right boy?"

When the human was playing with the dog, the host spoke again. "Teor, you must be quite brave to play with an animal with such large teeth?"

Teor shook her head much to her observing mothers approval. "Nope, he is quite a big softie when you get to know him."

"Hmm, I'm not so sure, but I'll move on regardless. When you say you watch silent movies are they human or a one of ours?"

Teor squinted, was this a trick question? How would she of had Asari films? "Human, I have only just recently gotten access to an omni-tool."

"could you describe a one of these films?"

Teor nodded as she started to describe. "Yes, usually they are a 2d monochrome picture, with a lead actor, usually Norman Wisdom or Max Linder, up to humorous activities such as getting into mischief with the authorities."

"Monochrome? Now that is a word from the history books. Anyway, lets get onto a new question, comming form Aoc, 27, What is the most unusual or strange thing you find about one another?"

Pebble turned to Teor. "Want me to go first?" A blink. "Okay then, where to start, either the freaky black eyes you guys can get or the blue magic as I like to call it. We humans can't do either and to be honest it freaks me out, especially black eyes and blue magic, thats like a composition straight from the horrors."

Teor laughed slightly at the human, shook her head then give her response. "While not trying to insult an entire species like yourself, I've got to say your hair is something that I still struggle to understand, it's very unusual, and you have feelings for inanimate items like twig, not something we Asari tend to have."

Pebble rolled her eyes. "See if you say that after something saves your life so many times you lose count."

"Sorry twig?" The host interjected.

Pebble turned her attention to the host before responding. "A combat knife I have had since I first got recruited into Cerberus, never go anywhere without it."

"Oh... Now the last two questions from Tre 26 and Usbh 30 are the following. What is the first thing you are going to do when you get back home Teor? And Pebble, if you could join Teor, what would be the first thing in the galaxy you would want to see and explore?"

Teor knew what her one thing was. "Cut off my mothers and sisters air flow with the strongest hug they have ever received, and then meet my university friends for lunch at Newts."

Teor turned to Pebble telling her that it was her time to speak. "There is a saying on my world, a child dreams of visiting the stars, but if I was given that ability I would be like a dog chasing a car, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught it, You know? I would just do things, so there is nothing in particular, I would just see where the wind takes me."

When the host started to speak again in a manner that seemed to Pebble like she as going to be speaking for a while Pebble just wanted to scream, she had already been sat down answering stupid questions for a good hour already, and was just wanting to get on the road back home already.

/.../

One hour later.

Charles give an impressed whistle as he circled around Pebbles car. "How long have you had this?"

Pebble smiled, she knew her father would like the car. "A few months, a gift from the top dog himself for my 'invaluable work' performed when working for the organisation."

Charles opened the passenger door and looked with wide eyes at the interior, give another impressed whistle and then said. "I bet this cost them a bob or two. Does it also use that new engine thing they just released?"

"Yup, watch this. 'Engine online'." The car powered up and lifted half a foot off the ground. "AI, ZZ Top, play." Sure enough a tune from ZZ top started to play. "AI Mute." then turning back to her father she continued. "It's computer has a sort of AI that can control the entire car and override the user if it thinks its going to crash, everything other than the wheel and pedals can be voice controlled, and a max speed of 400MPH."

"My bet is at least ten mill, and I totally have to get one."

"Want to drive it around the block?" The look on Charles face said everything Pebble needed to know.

/.../

"Smooth aint the word."

"Yeah, its one hell of a ride, anyway, we need to talk." Charles was a very cautious driver and didn't take his eyes off the road as he responded.

"Listening."

"Can you remember what to do if you get a email from FlyontheWall saying Black Ice?" Charles nodded. "Dad, this time it won't just be the N program or any other Eastern slash Southern group, this time it will be Cerberus, if you get the email you must, must, do everything I told you to do as soon as you get the email."

"I don't want to ask, but I have to know, if I get this email what will happen to you?"

Charles already knew the answer, he just didn't want to quite believe it. "I'll protect Teor as long as I can and then when she's safe... I'll make sure I go out with a bang."

The father give a sombre sigh. "Well, at least you will go out the way you lived your life."

Pebble smiled at that thought. "That I will, Preferably though, I think riding a nuclear bomb would be the best way, like in that film... which I have just completely forgot the name of."

"Dr Strangelove."

"Yep, thats the one."

/.../

"I want an Alsation, female that's preferable in season, and get me an old cheap car, something still using a combustion engine, and designed for the blind."

TIM's PA was nearly running to keep up with the man as he paced through the HQ collecting multiple items. "How do you know the subject is going to be there?"

"Because the subject has visited this particular location multiple times and the data suggests she is going there, now hurry up, this is a one shot wonder."

/.../

Pebble stepped out of her car and looked around, two people were refuelling their car, another man was walking along the road, beer in hand and another three younger looking men were in a shop with an additional shop keeper inside. After buying what she wanted: a few bottled drinks and some snacks, she started to return to the car when she heard a voice come from behind. "Nice Ass." Pebble rolled her eyes and continued to walk, over her years she had heard a lot of different comments on her appearance and learned to just ignore it. "Hey lady! I'm talking to you."

Pebble continued to walk till she heard the guy start to approach her with a relatively fast paced walk, before he got to her however she turned around. Even though the guy was still a few feet away she could see from his eyes he was drugged up to god knows what high place. When the guy saw her from the front he made another comment relating to her breasts but again she ignored it, only making a comment when his hand seemed to extend to touch her. "Touch me and I'm taking your hand."

/.../

5 mins later.

Pebble opened her car door, sat down in the drivers seat, sighed and then looked to Teor. "Can you pass me the hand towel from the glove box." Teor complied, wondering why she was asked for the towel, and nearly had a heart attack when she noticed the crimson red blood on Pebble's hands when passing it over.

"You Hurt?" Teor spoke in broken English, obviously wanting the answer quickly as Pebble wouldn't have to read the omni-tool for a translation.

Pebble shook her head as she wiped her hands and Twig clean. "Nope, but the other guy is."

"Wont they call the authorities or something though?"

Pebble shook her head. "Not likely, he was drugged to kingdom come, and had a bag full of stuff, if he calls the cops he will get banged up for a long time and one of the perks of being an ex-agent is that Cerberus will make this entire incident disappear if he does. Anyway, throw these in the glovebox." Pebble handed her the towel and a bag that stunk of something unknown to the Asari, Teor didn't want to ask questions about the suspicious bag so she complied and took the items the items.

/.../

"What are we doing now?" Teor asked as Pebble pulled the car over in a car park in the middle of nowhere.

"I stop here nearly every time I return home, and with it been a clear night I thought you might like to see something. But first of all I need to quickly check something." Pebble got out the car and quickly surveyed the one and only other car in the car park, from the steering wheel set-up, and multiple other inner features she quickly concluded that the person who owned the car wasn't going to be a problem even if they did meet.

Returning, Pebble found that Teor had gotten out of the car and pulled on a hooded jumper. "If we bump into any one they are blind, shouldn't be a problem."

After letting Russell out of the back the trio started down a dark country path till they came across a cliff edge with only a small wooden fence securing the drop ten minutes later, after another five minutes Pebble stopped at a wooden chair and sat down. "Do you want to tell me yet why we are out here yet?"

Pebble nodded as she looked up to the sky. "Look up."

Teor did as requested, and was instantly blown away from how beutiful the sky appeared. She had virtually lived her entire life in a populated area with numerous sources of artificial light polluting the sky, this was by far the most beutiful night sky she had ever seen. "Wow."

Pebble didn't need to read Teors omni-tool to understand what was being said "Yeah, that was my reaction too."

Both Pebble and Teor sit in silence while observing the sky for a good ten minutes before Pebble pulls something out of her pocket and aims it at the sky. "This links into some database on all the stars we have mapped, it can tell us how far away each star is and any other data we know about that system, such as if there are planets or the like."

The Asari was quiet for a short time longer before replying while pointing her hand in the air. "I think my system is somewhere around there, but I'm not too sure."

Pebble aimed the tool in that direction, after a second the device listed approximately 35 stars from the direction Pebble pointed it. "How far do you think your system is away from earth in light years?"

"23,700"

"Hmm, my device thinks that your system..." Pebble is distracted by Russell who begins running off into the darkness. Pebble instantly stops speaking to Teor to adress her AWOL dog "Russell, Here." She pointed to the floor next to herself, but it was a short time later before the dog returned, and when it did it had yet another dog with it, a dog Russell seemed highly interested in.

"Grab Russell for me." Commented Pebble as she bent down for the unknown dog, as she read it's collar a voice is heard shouting from the darkness.

"Excuse me! Lady have you seen my dog?"

Looking up Pebble saw a man with a white cane walking towards herself from the darkness.

/.../

Okay guys, we are starting to approach the last few chapters for this story, there may be one or two slow paced chapters, but things are going to hit the high gears soon, just thought I would give a heads up.

Cheers for reading!


	25. Chapter 25

I just keep feeling like something is off with this chapter but after a few re-writes I just can't get it right, so screw it, ill let you read, and if it's horrible, oops.

Anyway, this is the last chapter before things are going to heat up!

/.../

Every little detail and aspect of this mission had so far been one large success, from the targeted host, and to the alien surviving, the only flaw or bummer was the fact that only one alien had managed to survive the initial missile strike, but one talking and friendly alien was more than ample for what was needed. The question was why hadn't Cerberus already captured Teor? They knew where she was at almost every second of the day, they knew she had good intel, and they knew she would try to escape back to her own species? So why risk it? The simple answer was because experience had shown that someone in captivity didn't talk very well, and even newer experience, with thanks to the slavers, showed aliens in captivity spoke even less.

When the mission was first proposed to TIM, Pebble was the obvious choice for the deep undercover agent that would interact with the aliens, the three main reasons given for Pebble was the fact that she is inflicted and in late stages of a deadly disease, which the aliens hopefully would take pity on if they found out, had shown in multiple missions she was capable of emotions most other Cerberus agents of her level shied away from, and was more than capable of defending herself if shit hit the fan, she was the perfect agent for the job. However Pebble was also going to prove to be an expensive problem, as she was retired, and thanks to Dom she would not willingly participate in the operation, so Cerberus needed to find a way for her to participate, and the best way for that to happen was if she didn't know she was participating, but that made its own problems.

The first problem would be that she would have to discover the shuttle straight after it was shot down in order to 'rescue' the aliens, that in its own had multiple other logistical problems to add onto the top of the other problems, but they could be resolved with time and careful planning. The second major problem was that Pebble knew that Cerberus would come looking, so she would use methods to avoid detection and surveillance, so all digital devices in her home with any possible recoding equipment would be useless as she chance to 'clean' her home, so new and some old surveillance technologies Pebble had never worked with would be required, but due to her extensive career that didn't leave many options, wires, LRUAV's and men on the ground were no go's, new methods had to be developed. The next issue was the fact that despite Pebble showing the emotions required for the mission, she was still an Agent who had been conditioned to act for 'the best of humanity'. They could not risk her simply killing any surviving aliens, so to combat this Cerberus operatives had tainted her water supply a week prior to the shuttle crash with a hormonal effecting drug to make her more accepting and curious.

The next challenge faced if Pebble was used was the fact she liked to hide, and owned multiple properties spread through out the globe, some of which the location is not entirely known. A car, outfitted with a newly developed undetectable by current technology transmitter, and a new standard of data and signal transmission so she would use it, gifted for her career, would be one good way to keep an eye on any movement, but Cerberus couldn't bet on her just using the car alone, at her last biopsy a mini-transmitter, another newly developed technology, was implanted in one of her cancerous lumps, this transmitter could essentially hack any nearby device with an aerial and transmit its location if activated by TIM.

Everything included, Cerberus had racked up a bill of over 760 million just to use Pebble as an ignorant undercover agent, but this was just the start of all the bills for the mission, the satellites developed to detect any alien ships, another 3 billion, the cost just to keep the mission alive? 4.5 million a day, The loss of Terra? Yet to be calculated, but it would be a painful number to look at.

Was it worth it? Right now as TIM gazed his eyes upon Teor and thought of all Cerberus had learned, he would say yes, even if the costs were ten fold, however as he got closer to Pebble and Teor he had to tear his eyes away and act blind, or risk one of his best agents exercising her skills on himself.

/.../

"Yes, we have your dog!." At hearing Pebble's voice TIM changed his direction so he was on a more direct course to the two. "Thank the lord, I would never've found her."

"No offense sir, but if your blind it's not exactly the best idea to walk your dog off lead."

"Oh no, no." TIM give a slight chuckle. "She well trained. Jesse, here girl."

The female Alsation looked to TIM, but didn't obey as she was more interested in Russell. "It looks like she is pre-occupied with my dog."

"Oh. What type do you have?"

"Male Alsation. Anyway, what has you out at this time?" After speaking Pebble released Jesse and signalled to Teor to do the same to Russell.

"The peace of nature allows me to think, and then when the sun rises the birds, I may not be able to see them, but to me their songs are something special. Now if you don't mind me asking the same, why are you out here?"

"To let my dog have a roam before it does its business in my car."

"Going far?"

Pebble nodded as a small coughing fit over took her, eventually when she regained her composure a short time later she replied. "Over the border and to the hills." Tim sat down on a rock he had been feeling with his hands for a short time. "There is a chair just here."

Tim waved her off. "I'm alreet, down now. And that didn't sound too healthy."

"Nope, not in the least..."

"Pebble, err Russell."

Pebble turned around to look at what Teor was talking about, Russell had mounted the female dog, but she couldn't be bothered to pull him off and the blind guy would find out long after she had disappeared, irresponsible? Yes, but she didn't care.

"Now that is a weird accent."

Pebble sat back down next to Teor on the bench which was just a few yards away from TIM. "Yeah, she comes from a place far away from here." As she spoke she put an arm around a slightly shaking Teor and pulled her close, the result was Teor shuffling closer, grateful for the heat.

The three sat in silence till TIM once again spoke. "Your friend is quiet."

"She struggles with English."

TIM scratched his nose before asking a question in Mandarin. "How are you doing?"

Teor looked wide eyed to Pebble, who in return just shrugged and replied in Mandarin to TIM also, however her response wasn't as fluent as TIM's. "Good, thank."

"Speak the 2 most common languages, a useful tool in this day of age."

While it was true pebble could speak Mandarin, she only knew the bare basics. "I only know enough to get me by if I ever got stuck in a Mandarin speaking territory."

"That is enough ain't it?"

"Hmm, and speaking of accents, you sound like my old boss, where abouts do you hail from?"

TIM reached into his pocket and grasped his emergency tag that he was to activate if Pebble found out his identity, and acted on it. "A little place called Ichavon, a small town near the Mexico-US border."

"I had a few missions along the border, never heard of it."

"Oh." Tim cursed himself inside, he should have known that Pebble did a few missions along the border. "It's just a small insignificant place surrounded by a lot of sand and then some."

Pebble patted Teor on her leg and gestured for her to get ready to leave, she felt like her time here had expired. "Well sir, as nice as it's been talking, my dogs done its thing and I must hit the road."

/.../

Reale flashed her target a large toothy smile as she worked her dancing skills, who was her target? An engineer of some sorts who just happened to recently work in Cerberus's highest security facility. As she worked her way over her smile became more and more genuine as she thought about how her mother dismissed her years as a dancer as a waste of time, it got her a wife, and it was currently aiding in her mission, when her target took the bait and danced through the busy dance floor to intercept herself, her smile got that much larger.

/.../

After kissing, drinking, and toying with her target for a while she eventually pushed him back and said. "I think its about time we get out of here."

The target, who was currently under the influence of a memory effecting drug that would erase all memories formed over the next few hours, administrated by Reale, replied with a grin that nearly tore his face in two. "My place is free."

Reale pulled the target in close, but before kissing she commented. "Perfect."

/.../

The second Reale got the target alone in his house she pushed him into a chair, captured him in a stasis field and removed her wig. "Let me answer all your questions now, yes I'm an alien, no I'm not going to kill you providing you talk, no your not going to get any action.." Reale made an Galactic equivalent of the quotation mark gesture as she said 'action' "And no you can't go to the toilet, you can do it in your chair."

The man sat wide eyed as Reale set her omni-tool to record the conversation. "Now..."

/.../

Pebble sat up in her bed and rubbed her back, after a second or two she felt a hand lightly touch her own, as soon as she felt the foreign hand she quickly turned around and reached for twig on her bedside table, but before she retrieved the knife or did anything else she would regret she remembered that Teor's window currently had a large gaping hole in it, with thanks to some one throwing a brick through it, and was sharing her bed. After a deep breath of relief she returned to rubbing her back, only to have Teor stop her again and then push her down onto her stomach and massage her back. After placing her omni-tool so Pebble could see it and returning to the massage Teor spoke. "Anytime you are in pain, just ask."

"Mmm. Don't want to be a...oh... burden."

Teor shook her head and rolled her eyes as she worked. "For you, this will never be a burden, and besides we had a deal."

"Payment not enough."

Teor pressed into a sensitive spot causing Pebble to release a sigh of relief and pleasure. "I think shelter, food, and protection is enough."

"No.. Not enough."

Teor didn't know what to think about this human, she was too good for her own sake, but maybe she could do a bargain which would silence Pebble's protests about being a burden and give her something useful. "Fine, now we have a translation tool you can teach me English as-well, and I'll do this whenever you need it. Mind this is my last deal about this subject, no exceptions."

It took Pebble a long time to reply as she attempted to over come the deep relaxing, and energy draining feeling associated with Teor's glowing fingers. "Deal."

/.../

Teor looked over the armour Pebble had been repairing all day with an inquisitive look. "This is my old armour, I've been thinking about the very real possibility of Reale being captured by Ceberus, and well, if that happens they will get her to talk, and then they will come for us like a fly to shit, so when that happens I want you to wear this armour."

"Okay, but why do you want me to put it on now?"

Pebble looked at the armour. "Well, its designed to fit me who is slightly taller and less full in the chest, so I need to put it on you so I can make the adjustments now when we have time, and not in a rush, also so you can get used to the feeling of it."

"Right, what goes on first?"

"The chest plate."

Teor picked up the chest plate and messed around with the straps that would hold it on, but Pebble stopped her soon after. "The suit requires virtually 100% skin contact. I'll turn around."

Teor put the plate down and then lightly gripped Pebble's wrist before turning her back around to face her with a gentle force, as she did so she spoke. "Pebble, in my culture we are all the same physically, being naked near friends ins't frowned upon as it is in your society, and as I consider you a friend I don't mind if you see me in all my blue glory."

Pebble clucked her tonge once or twice in thought before eventually responding. "Okay, but this is going to be weird for me."

Teor rolled her eyes as she progressed to pull her shirt off.

/.../

"Alrighty, how does that feel."

Teor walked around the kitchen slightly to get the feel of the suit. "Other than being quite tight in the chest, nice and snug."

"Hmm, your going to have to live with the tight chest as that's as large as I could make the bust." Pebble turned Teor around a few times when she returned from her short walk to look at various parts on the suit. "Jump up and down for me." Teor did so and then looked expectantly at Pebble. "Good, the suits exoskeleton is working, and no pinches I assume."

"Yes, and no."

"Great, pass me your left arm." Teor did as requested allowing Pebble to play with the suits on-board computer. "This is going to feel weird, may even sting slightly, but don't worry that's perfectly normal."

Before Teor could question as to what was about to happen she felt the suit pinch her seemingly all over her body, it stung slightly but before she knew it the sensation was gone. "What was that."

Pebble pointed to the interface on the left arm, "Blood pressure and volume, heart rate, body temperature and viral report. This suit will take good care of you, if your hit it will instantly inject healing fluids into your body, if your body temperature rises or falls the suit will try and keep you at your natural temperature, which I've entered as 313 kelvin for yourself, and it will do everything in its power to keep you alive if you get a critical wound."

As Teor looked at the display she failed to notice Pebble pick up a rolling pin. "And the shields will protect you from virtually all small arms fire, flying particles, and distant shockwaves, this is what it will look like when they are working." Pebble took the rolling pin and tried to hit Teor with it, but the suit detected the pin and the shield took the hit, flashing a spectacular, but dim blue as it did so. "Happy?"

Teor was more impressed with the shields than happy, not even the Turians had active shielding half as advanced as this on their suits of armour. "Yes, how long do the shields work."

"Depends on what you get hit by, but if you stay out of danger they will recharge over time, and good, now come on, Russell needs a walk and you need to get used to it, also don't worry about being exposed, the helmet is also adjustable and will hide your face."

/.../

Teor sat down opposite Pebble on the floor, as she did so she spoke. "This suit is actually really comfy."

Pebble smiled as she remembered exactly how the suit felt. "Yes, that is the feeling of a few million, now for your English lessons I was thinking about placing your tool in the middle, teach you a few things and then try a little conversation with them.

Teor put her tool in the middle. "Sounds good."

"Great, ill be back in 1 sec." Pebble returned a short time later with grapes, a plate, a pen, and notepad . "I think we will start with numbers, and use the grapes as a reward system for getting things right, you can write things down as to how they sound phonetically in your own written language."

Teor smiled at that comment. "I like the second idea, and love the grape idea."

"Good." Pebble put some grapes on the plate. "Now, one.." Pebble held up 1 finger. "Two.." She held up two fingers...

/.../

1 week, 6 days later.

"Little bird, mission is a go."

"Copy that Rarry." was Gar's instant response.

/.../

/...,.../

Alrighty, things are going to start to happen, I think we may get two or three more chapters before this (Part of? muhaha) story comes to a conclusion.


	26. Chapter 26

Okay, I had bits and bobs of this written from having a break last chap, so its come early...

Anyway, 'it' begins.

/.../

/.../

"Johnny will want to see this!"

A younger looking chap pulled a phone out of his pocket as he nodded in complete agreement. "Sure, but first can you to get a photo with me and it? Just I know what will happen when we return, with our luck it won't be here."

The older of the two men sighed and took the phone. "Imagine if we turned this in, we will be rich as hell."

"Oh yeah, I doubt rich will be the word, oh hoy me ma shotgun please? Make it look like I killed it."

The man shook his head in disagreement as he passed the gun over. "How do you know its dead?"

The younger shrugged as he held his gun over his shoulder and placed a foot on the dead bodies' shoulder in a triumphant pose. "It feels freezing cold and look at it, its covered in blue blood."

"May I also remind you its an alien? That could be its natural body temperature."

"Okay, put your hand here, its not..." The younger man turned to look at his elder companion. "...Breathing." His eyes turned wide as he felt the faintest of breaths.

"Ha good try, now get back into your pose."

"No seriously, its breathing. Come feel."

"I can't be arsed, now you wanting this picture or what?"

"I'll get the picture, but it's still breathing."

The two men are interrupted as they hear an engine pull up outside their shack.

/.../

1hour 15 mins earlier.

Ever since Teor's window was put out nearly 2 weeks ago the duo had been sharing Pebble's bed, and had begun to enjoy one another's company and warmth at night, so when Teor's omni-tool which was currently residing on the bedside table next to Pebble rang, it was her who answered it first, and not Teor.

The second she connected the call a voice spoke "Pebble?"

Pebble rubbed her eyes and sat up on her bed. "Speaking."

"My name is Fesi, I am Reale's wife and I need to ask of you an impossibly huge favour."

Pebble rubbed her forehead in anticipation for the headache that was about to come. "Lets hear it then."

"My wife has been critically injured, she is in a safe location and I know you said you could help her. Please, I can only beg of you, rescue my wife."

Pebble turned to Teor. "Armour now." Turning back she looked to the omni-tool. "Give me the location and I'll see what I can do."

Fesi didn't waste any time, Reale's location instantly popped up on a map projected by Teor's tool. "Please, I don't believe she can last much longer without medical intervention."

Pebble studied the map for a short time, from appearances Reale was in a secure enough location for her aid. "I'll pick her up and then I'll contact you when I've done so, don't contact me prior."

"Yes, no problem, just please be quick, and use this identity to call me back, not Little bird."

Pebble sighed at the odd request before standing and making her way down stairs. "Arrange transport for Teor and Reale off this world by this time tomorrow, and bring your best ground troops."

"Yes, its all pre-arranged, Gar will get in touch with details later."

"Good. I'll be in touch." After ending the call Pebble pulled out a small tablet that had its battery previously removed and loaded it up, when it was powered up she logged into an email address named FlyOnTheWall and sent a message to her father saying BlackIce, once she was sure the email was sent she removed the battery and returned upstairs, but instead of going into her bedroom she entered her room of old memories and opened her weapons closet. As soon as the door was open she pulled on her light armour, grabbed her most trusty and true weapons, kitted her suit out with as much ammunition as possible, array of advanced warfare pain killers and headed back down stairs to meet Teor.

After scanning the Asari to see if she was ready she spoke. "Ready to move?"

"Yes." The Asari responded in English to be as quick as possible.

"Follow everything I tell you and we will get through this. Lets go."

/.../

Pebble pulled up outside a small wooden shack that appeared to be in the middle of nowhere and opened her car door, but before she stepped out she turned back to Teor. "If you see any convoys of cars or military trucks, flash the lights and stay in the car, keep Russell here too."

After walking silently upto the shack she put her ear on the wooden walls to listen to the inside.

_'You go out."_

_'Screw that, its probably government or something looking for it.'_

_'Yeah, that's why I told you to go out side first.'_

Pebble heard enough and opened the door of the shack, her weapon was raised. Inside she found two brothers from the looks of things, one was holding a hunting shotgun but instantly dropped it when he saw her and raised his hands above his head, the injuries inflicted on Reale weren't shotgun inflicted so she decided to give the brothers a chance. "I'm going to give you two options, the first is you walk out of this shack and never return, the second is I shoot you right here right now."

After a second or so the brothers both walked out of the shack, before proceeding to run off into the woods behind the shack, allowing Pebble to turn her attention to Reale who was slumped on the floor. After checking her life signs she scooped her up and transferred her into the back chairs of her car, ordering an address to the systems AI to drive automatically too as she shut the door.

"Teor, call the last person to call that tool, grab the towel in the glove box and then get back here."

As Teor did as requested Pebble assessed Reale's wounds, it wasn't good, she had 5 bullet wounds, 2 in the upper left torso, one in the gut, and two non-criticals' on her left arm. When Teor returned she ignored the person on the tool to give her an order. "Help me get her out of the armour." Teor recognised enough of the English to quickly do as asked.

"Pebble, is she alive?"

Pebble didn't look to the tool as she replied. "Yes, barely."

"Thank Athame, what are her wounds?"

Pebble didn't reply till she slid Reale's commando leathers down to her waist, revealing all of the wounds with greater clarity. "One critical abdomen, two in the shoulder and two in her left... arm." Pebble was interrupted by Teor who had returned with the towel. After speaking Pebble tore a thin strip from the towel, tied it tightly around Reale's left arm just below the shoulder and then gestured to Teor to hold the rest of the towel on the abdomen wound. "I'm going to seal her abdomen wound, but its a method used for emergencies only and it is just as dangerous as leaving the wound open in the long run if she doesn't get any antibiotics within the next day or two, understood?"

"Yes, just do what's required."

Pebble nodded as she grabbed her gun and removed a bullet, then with care she used twig to remove the bottom off of the bullet revealing the gun powder.

"Pebble, she is awakening."

Pebble looked at Reale, her eyes were barely a slit. "Too bad, this is going to sting like a bitch, just make sure she doesn't try to sit up or move too much." As she spoke she leaned over Reales body, moved Teors hand and poured the gun powder through the hole. What Pebble was about to do was dangers as it sealed in any bacteria, but right now Reale needed her blood and sealing that in was far more important, she would not have done it if she wasn't sure Reale could pull through with out it.

"Hold her." As Pebble spoke she raided the glove box for a lighter. When Pebble got back from retrieving the lighter she looked over Reale, who had once again passed out, her chances of survival was looking slim right now. After lighting the gunpowder, to which Reale barely responded, Pebble grabbed a box from under her driving chair and removed a clear piece of tubing approximately 5mm in diamater, and 1 meter long, the ends had two needles on them. "Your species can do blood transplants yes?"

"Yes, why?" Was Fesi's response.

"Quickly explain to Teor that Reale needs a blood transplant and she is the only Asari on Earth." After the explanation was done Pebble handed one side of the tube to Teor. Teor took the tube and looked at her arm just above the elbow, if Pebble wasn't so pre-occupied she would of asked Pebble to do the deed.

Once the needle was in the correct vein, Pebble spoke to Fesi. "Is there any particular vein transplants work best in?"

"On my wife its the above the elbow, right arm, a large blue vein slightly to the right of the purple coloured artery."

Once Pebble was sure the tubing had no air left in it, by expelling some of Teors blood, she pushed the needle into the vein. "Tell Teor that if she starts to feel dizzy to tell me."

As Fesi spoke to Teor, Pebble removed two more bullet cases and emptied them into the two wounds in Reale's shoulder and light each of the holes, then reaching into the box that she got the tubing out of she produced a large bandage and began to bandage up her arm wounds before moving onto her abdomen and then shoulder wounds.

"Okay, I've done all I can for her on my side, you need to pray to your goddess that she survives till pick up."

"One quick thing, when you speak to Gar, tell her the favour is done, and you don't know how much I owe to you today." It was an odd request, a one which Pebble had suspicions about but she would go with it.

/.../

The advantage of the winter months was that it was still dark until late morning, and that was a fact Pebble was incredibly thankful of today. "Teor, the next time this car stops, get out and help me with Reale, were abondonig the car."

The Asari looked around the car, it seemed to be in good shape and to herself, a poor decision to abandon it with out cause. "Okay, but why?"

"Cos if those brothers talk, Cerberus will take notice and then be looking for my car, if its miles away from where we are, were safe." Pebble looked out the window to the country side that was speeding past. "At least for a short time."

/.../

"Hey kids, want to earn 200 each?" The three children Pebble was talking too were approximately around the age of 15 and were dressed in a school uniform.

The three of them looked amongst one another, obviously wondering if this was too good to be true, eventually the older of the trio spoke. "What we gotta do?"

"I'll give you 50 now to walk into that motel over there and get a key for a room, don't care what size, when you give me the key you will get the other 150."

"You seem desperate, make it 250 and you have a deal."

Pebble wanted to smile, she knew this game. "Your too smart for your own good kid. Enjoy your day at school."

Pebble turned and began to walk down a dark alley, however she knew her 'offer' was about to be accepted.

"Hey! 200 then."

Pebble had only gotten 5 steps down the alley.

/.../

Pebble handed Teor's tool back to the Asari.

"What did he say?"

"Give me the time and location of our pick up tomorrow."

Teor nodded as she sat down in a small sofa next to Russell. "Okay, but you don't look so happy."

Pebble sighed as she looked out of a window. "No, I don't like the pick up location, and I think we weren't supposed to help Reale."

This caused a frown on the Asari. "Why not, surely if you could it would make sense to help her?"

"I don't know, just Gar seemed to ask about her with out asking directly, just all very shady in my personal opinion."

"I'm sure there is a good explanation."

"Yeah, probably."

/.../

"She's waking up."

Pebble walked over from her hide out position next to their room's window to Reale's side. When Reale's eyes first opened and focussed on Pebble it was obvious to Reale and Teor that she was petrified, but a short time Later Reale seemed to recognise Pebble and relax, slightly, when she tried to sit up Teor placed a hand on her right shoulder to stop her. "Your hurt badly, it's best if you limit your movement."

Reale blinked before talking with a raspy voice. "Water."

Pebble didn't need to know Galactic to understand that request, and brought a glass over. When the Asari drank what she needed Pebble sat down next to her and spoke. "Reale, I need to know what happened."

When reale went to change her neural adapter, it took her multiple times as her toom kept crashing. "Help me sit up." She looked to Pebble with pleading eyes, eyes which caused Pebble to relent and help Reale to sit up. When Reale caught her breath back from breaving heavily during the painful manoeuvre she looked to Pebble and asked. "How did you find me?"

"Your wife called me."

Reale nodded as she rested her head against the back board of the bed she was laying on. "That bitch." Pebble raised a brow, that was an odd thing to say about your wife. Reale give a pained groan before continuing. "Is she abandoning us here as well or are we getting picked up?"

"0430 hours tomorrow."

"Thank Athame."

Pebble nodded before walking back over to the window to keep her watch. "Reale, I really need to know what happened."

"Okay." Reale give a sigh, it wasn't going to be nice replaying half of this. "It all started approximately 24 hours ago."

/.../

/.../

So, what went so wrong? Any guesses?

Cheers for reading.


	27. Chapter 27

24 hours earlier.

"Photax, what are you doing now?"

The mad Salarian scientist looked up from his project with goggles on that distorted his eyes to look like large black saucers. "Experimenting."

Gar walked around the scientist to look at his project, from the looks of things his project consisted of PCB's and wires. "What on exactly?"

"Preservation of energy in closed loop weapon systems, very important work, could save lives."

Gar flapped his mandibles in thought. "Any progress?"

"0.29984% performance boost over current energy preservation systems, early work, still to be perfected."

Gar's mandibles flapped again, but in amusement at the precise nature of Photax. "Yes, still a distance away from 0.3%. Anyway I need you to tidy this place up while at the same time keep it look like you're doing something useful, we got the Asari Councillor coming with one or two others and I'm sure she will want a tour of this ship."

The Salarian looked around his small office, he rather liked its set-up and didn't want to change much. "All tools placed at strategic locations, moving them inefficient."

Gar raised a hand in a mock surrender. "Okay, okay, just give it a clean will you? It looks like this place belongs on Tachunka."

"Acceptable compromise."

/.../

"Fesi? Is that you?" asked Logi, the ship's doctor.

Fesi blinked at the aging doctor. "In the flesh."

After a long embrace the two sat down over a hot cup of Thessian coffee in Little Bird's canteen. "So, how have things been going with you?"

"You mean she hasn't been talking about me?"

The doctor smiled as she sipped her drink. "You know her, keeping family life to herself."

Fesi raised a brow, that sounds like her wife. "Yes, that she does, and I'm doing fine thanks for asking, how about yourself?"

"Going stir crazy, with this mission we have had 0 injuries other than the occasional spill of hot liquids, not that I want to see anyone hurt, but it would be nice to have something to do."

"I'm the opposite, it would be nice to sit down and do nothing, even if it was for a single hour."

"Kids keeping you busy then?"

Fesi blinked, that was an understatement. "Yes, my eldest has me travelling the galaxy looking at different universities, my youngest has been getting into trouble at school, and I'm trying to teach Nium biotics all at the same time, I feel like its non-stop."

"Hmm, you need to enrol Nium with a Matriach and hopefully Jaii's issues at school will stop with the return of her father." Logi took another sip of her drink. "So, which universities has keri being looking at? And what subject."

"About 20, and engineering."

"Nice." Observed Logi as she broke into a biscuit.

"Yes." There was a slight break in the conversation as Fesi took a sip of her own drink. "Logi, may I ask a favour of you?" Logi blinked allowing Fesi to continue. "As I've come with the Councillor I've been assigned a shared room, I was hoping to talk to my wife but in private, would it be possible to borrow your office for a short time?" Logi blinked again. "I owe you."

Logi chuckled. "Anything for my ex-pupil and captains wife."

"Ha, crazy to think that I started here as a medical student on this very ship under your careful eye, and ended off marrying the ship's captain."

"Yes, yes it is."

/.../

9 hours ago.

"Little bird, mission is a go."

Gar quickly replied. "Copy that Rarry."

"Gar, how long will this mission take?" Was asked by the Asari Councillor as she looked over the multiple monitors that displayed all the details known about the current operation.

"Gar flapped his mandibles, a common question from someone who had never stepped on a battlefield. "As long as it takes, you can't simply rush this type of mission."

"Hmm, such a shame." The councillor walked around till she came across a map. "Is this where she is now?"

Gar stood from his chair to observe the map with the councillor. "No, Reale is off screen, this is the place she is infiltrating."

"Oh." The councillor continued to observe the map. "And what are these things circled and numbered in red?"

"Numbers 1-3 are the generators and source of power for the base, she is placing charges on these in case things don't go our way. 4 and 5 are checkpoints, 6-8 are places of interest, we don't know what's in there but we suspect its slavers, 9 and 10 are biometric sensors, finally 11 is where we believe the engine and similar components are being stored."

/.../

/.../

"Im progressing into area 11."

"Copy that."

Reale took a deep breath as she opened the door to area 11, so far so good, no reason to suspect anything would go wrong at this stage, but when the doors opened she knew it had gone all so wrong. Before her stood TIM, or so she guessed, surrounded by 8-9 of his personal guard and a few grunts on the side.

"Surprised to see me?" Reale pretended to look confused by the question, her tool currently set to English. "You know, I have waited my entire life for this moment, what am I doing." Tim walked forward and held a hand out, his guards kept their weapons trained on Reale. When Reale didn't raise a hand to greet his he continued. "Ellie.." From the lack of recognition Tim paused before continuing. "...Pebble.. Did teach you this gesture did she not?"

"How did you know I was coming?" Reale kept her fingers light so she could power up her biotics and erect a barrier with a mere thought.

TIM pulled his hand back, he obviously wasn't getting a shake any time today. "Pebble." When TIM saw the anger start to spread across Reale's face he waved her off. "Oh don't worry she had no idea we were spying on her and you this whole time, and even if she was working for us, you haven't had contact with her since deciding your attack would be carried out today." TIM walked back and forth in front of Reale a few times before saying. "You know, all we wanted was your technology, if you just contacted us we would have helped you get Teor back to yourselves safely." He continued to walk. "But here you come, with a war ship in orbit and troops on the ground that are infiltrating our bases, makes me think you lot aren't a peaceful bunch."

Reale cleared her throat before activating her omni-tool. "Gar, plan B."

/.../

"What's plan B?"

Gar ignored the Councillor as he barked orders out.

"Gar, I asked a question, whats plan B?"

Gar continued to ignore the councillor for a good few minutes till he had a second to spare. "Reale's been discovered by Cerberus. We have just blown the the power supply and generators of the base."

The councillor shook her head in obvious disbelief. "Then this organisation knows it was us who carried out the attack and will believe we are hostile. I'm taking command."

/.../

Present.

Pebble was pacing around the room, how had Ceberus been spying on her? How did they know about Teor? If they were spying on her all that time ago then they more than likely know where she is right now, so why haven't they come?

"They definitely were spying on us?"

Reale nodded as she sipped some water. "Yes."

"They will know where we are now, why haven't they come for us?"

Reale shook her head. "I'm not sure."

"You said TIM claimed he wanted your technology right?"

"Yes."

Pebble picked up the complimentary notepad provided by the motel and wrote a small note on it. '_TIM WANTS YOUR SHUTTLE!_' Then she spoke. "Chances are the generator blow up effected his spy channels."

Reale wrote a note on the pad as she replied. "Let's hope so."

Pebble walked over to the note and read what the spectre had written. '_We need Gar to bring little bird_'

Pebble replied using the note. 'How, he will hear you talk?'

Reale quickly took the pen back and replied. 'Leave that to me.'

"Hmm, anyway, how did you escape?"

Reale sighed. "After he told me I was his prisoner and I respectfully told him where to go, there was a little fire fight and I started on my get-away."

"I take it you ran into some trouble on your retreat then?"

There was a blink. "Initially I just had grunts in my way, but once I got near the exit your old squad was waiting for me." Reale groaned in pain as she got herself into a comfier position on the bed. "I didn't stand a chance, I was forced back into the base and ended off having to make a new exit, it was doing that when I got hit. The bullets went straight through my armour and barriers like they didn't exist."

Pebble nodded in understanding. "Radio's, they're a bitch eh? When you get home you're going to need treatment for radiation poisoning. How did you shake my old crew off of your scent?"

"After stumbling through the woods for quarter of an hour they fell back."

Pebble tapped the line on the notepad that referred to the shuttle before saying, "Did you take any of them out?"

Reale shook her head. "I was a varren for the rite."

Pebble guessed that meant no. "Right, so you stumbled into the shack, and I presume tell your squad of your issue, why was it your wife, and not Gar, that asked me to rescue you?"

"I assume the Councillor stopped them from contacting you."

"So how did your wife contact me?"

Reale sighed. "I have no idea."

/.../

10 minutes prior to Fesi calling Pebble for the first time.

Fesi threw pushed a medical bed over in rage, the councillor couldn't just let her wife die to some humans on a mission she sent her on. She simply couldn't.

"Fesi, there is nothing I can do, I'm locked out from the system."

Fesi shook as she hit the bulk head. "I know! It's that excuse of a councillor."

The door to medical bay opened, Logi and a low level member of the crew came rushing in, before Fesi could say anything the low level recruit talked. "Gar, promise to forget whatever is about to happen and I will help you save Reale."

Gar looked to Fesi before nodding to the low level.

"I have a device which can hijack this ships communication system and talk to Teor and the human."

Gar flapped his mandibles. "So you're the leak. Okay, I'm turning a blind eye, just leave this ship at your first chance."

"Not a problem. Fesi, the human promised to help Reale under a certain set of circumstances, if I call her up you can try to convince her to help."

"What is in this for you?"

The low level rolled her eyes. "Look, just cos I work for the SB doesn't mean I'm a cold heartless bitch. I heard, your family talk to Logi, anyway I've decided to help so your kids can see their father again, I was brought up without a father and know what it's like, there's nothing more to it."

"Alright, lets do this, just don't mention it to the councillor, I prefer my mandibles on my face than hanging on a wall."

/.../

Present.

"What is that?"

Pebble looked down to the small device in her hands and smiled before looking up again to Reale. "Just a small mp3 player, just found it in one of my suits pockets."

Reale cocked her head as she looked at the small device. "MP3?"

"An ancient audio format. Basically it plays music through headphones, which annoyingly for me I currently don't own."

"Pass it here, should be able to link it to my tool and play it through that"

Pebble passed the device over before returning to resume her watch, a short time later 'Sharp Dressed Man' by ZZ top was quietly playing over Reale's tool. The music filled the silence between the three for a short while till Teor spoke. "Pebble, what are you going to do once we leave?"

Pebble had thought about this a lot while she had been keeping her watch. "I'll be amazed if I survive the onslaught of Cerberus dogs tomorrow. But if I do, I'm going to go to some exotic island, take as many drugs as I can and then trip balls with the local wildlife." Pebble waited for Teor to read the translation before explaining. "I don't plan on dying from cancer."

There was another silence before Teor asked. "Pebble, what is the human belief of afterlives?"

Pebble sighed, that was a question. "There's so many different ones that I can't say for the whole of humanity."

"Okay, what do you believe?"

Pebble shook her head. "I've seen too many horrors to believe in a deity. What about your own species?"

"The majority do not follow a religion, but many matriarchs still follow the Athame doctrine."

There was yet another silence before Pebble spoke again. "It's turning dark, I need to grab a mode of transportation, I'll be back in ten, be ready to move."

/.../

"Excuse me sir."

The target Pebble had set her sights on was a young man who looked like the very definition of a student, he had a spotty face, glasses and a bunch of pizza's, noodles, and other cheap foods in a carrier bag. The student looked over Pebble's armour before responding. "Yeah...?"

"I've got three grand on me, your car looks like it's worth no more than 200, if you give me the key's you make 2800, certainly a good sum of money to keep you fridge filled with beer."

The student looked around. "Is this a joke? Did Lenny set you up to this?"

Pebble shook her head and tucked a stray hair behind an ear. "Nope, take it or leave it."

"Show me the money first." Pebble smiled, she had a car.

/.../

/.../

Pebble stopped by the side of a road and got out. "Right, the place is approx a 15-20 min walk through these woods."

Reale looked around, she didn't like the area at all. "This is perfect ambush territory."

Pebble nodded as she helped the Asari out the car. "Yes, however it's also where I work best."

When the asari was out Pebble spoke to Teor. "Teor, your suit has an exoskeleton, you can carry or help Reale with next to no effort, allowing me to keep a look out."

"Oh."

"Yeah, and I'm also going to use your helmet, it has night and thermal vision built in."

/.../

Pebble handed Teor Russell's lead. "Teor, I need you to promise me something."

Teor nodded as she helped Reale to stand.

"Yes?"

"I need you to make sure Russell lives a good life, and that when you start walking in a second or so you are not going to turn around." After speaking Pebble unslung her riffle.

"What? Why?"

"Cos my journey ends here."

/.../

/.../

/.../

Teor shuddered with every bullet shot, explosion, and screams of pain she heard, her mind imagining that every scream was Pebble's and that every bullet fired had Pebble's name on it, but it also give her hope at the same time, because for as long as the sounds were being made, Pebble was still alive.

"What time is it?" Teor shouted to Reale as another set of explosions was heard.

"3.53" came a pant from Reale, she was currently being supported by Reale, finding that walking on her feet was a quicker means of getting from A to B then for Teor to simply carry her.

"I hope Little bird comes early." replied Teor as she quickly glanced back to the woods behind her.

"So do I." groaned Reale again, before adding. "Let's keep moving."

/.../

Dom's new recruit shook his head as he watched the live feed of the battle from a drone high in orbit. "Why just send Dom and some grunts? Surely we as a team could bring her down."

Harry sighed as he leaned back into a comfortable position. "Kid, were blessed TIM decided for whatever reason just to send Dom, besides we have a different mission."

"He's just throwing lives away."

"And she's Pebble."

"Meaning?"

Harry laughed slightly. "She didn't once lead this team for no good reason."

/.../

Once Pebble had eliminated all but 1 of the Ceberus troops she heard a voice shout from out of the darkness. "Just me and you now Pebs."

Pebble slumped back on a tree, she thought one of them was a bit trickier than the others. "Please don't tell me that was your team Dom, if so your standards have really dropped since I left."

"Hows your hip? Must hurt."

Pebble lowered a hand to her injured right hip, currently she was so high on combat painkillers she could barely feel it. "STIMS work wonders, hows your femur?"

"You call that a hit? It feels just a scratch."

Pebble smiled as she checked her ammo count, she still had two full rounds. "STIMS work wonders eh?"

Dom took a few deep breaths as he pulled himself back onto his feet. "I'm curious, what made you betray your entire species?"

Pebble, hearing the breathlessness also stood. "It's Cerberus that needs to ask its self that question."

When Dom failed to reply Pebble peeked around her cover, nothing. Slowly moving between trees she made her way carefully to Dom's last known position, he wasn't there, making Pebble think of two people in particular.

/.../

"Harry? TIM wants you."

Harry picked up his com-link. "Harry Speaking."

"Green light delayed by 15, repeat, green light delayed by 15." Harry rolled his eyes, stood up then moved over to the live feed, after playing with the control nobs for a short while he found out why the mission was delayed by 15, instead of a shuttle it looked like a large war vessel had arrived, the jets armed with missiles to take the shuttle down, with minimal damage, wouldn't have the fire-power to do what was required."

/.../

As Teor started to approach the clearing where she was due to be picked up she could start to see Little Bird hovering in the sky through the thinning of the forests canopy. Teor never thought star ships were a good looking object, but as she gazed her eyes over the spectre's ship she thought she had never seen anything so beutiful or majestic. "Come on, were nearly there."

Reale groaned slightly, her wounds had re-opened from exertion and she was feeling exhausted.

Teor continued to help Reale till she came to an opening, looking up she could now see Little Bird in all its glory, but from the appearance of things the ship was far too big to fit into the opening of the woods. Teor helped Reale down onto a grassy slope before waving her arms in hope that any camera on little bird pointing in her direction would notice herself. When she saw the back doors of the vessel open and a small shuttle leave she felt her heart rate race with hope, excitement and fear all at the same time. Hope and fear came from the idea of getting home, and fear from the fact that she may never again see the person who had literally bled and tangoed with impeding death in the form of cancer just to keep her alive and safe.

As the shuttle neared Teor noticed the sounds of explosions and gunfire had died down to nothing, while that could be good news and bad news at the same time it still scared her, and just in case it was the later, she decided to help Reale to her feet in-case they needed to move quickly again.

When the shuttle doors opened and two giants of krogan armed with equally big shotguns disembarked, a sight that would once have petrified Teor, she felt like a million metric tonnes had been removed from her shoulders, once the Krogans disembarked Teor started to help Reale move forward and greet the other 3 Asari commandos, and two Turians who left the shuttle afterwards.

"Captain, Reale, good to see you mostly in one piece." At hearing Gar speak another three Asari quickly disembarked from the shuttle, carrying bags labelled with universal medical logo's, one of the medics, who seemed far more enthusiastic than the others, rushed over and quickly helped Reale from Teor and down onto the floor.

When Reale was being given medical attention Gar approached Teor. "What is the situation?" As Gar spoke his mandibles flapped and he pointed his longest finger into the woods where they left Pebble behind. "Not sure, last I knew Pebble was keeping Cerberus at bay."

Gar immediately named the three comando's, who progressed to erect a biotic barrier around the group, and then look down to where Reale was being treated. "How long do you need?"

"Five." Came a response from one of the medics, from the voice however Gar instantly recognised it as Fesi.

Gar named the two krogan by name. "5 mins, you know what to do, and remember that despite being pre-relay these humans are still more than a match on the ground, if you see one keep out of sight, and don't take it alone."

One of the krogans give a grunt before they both left the protection of the barrier set up by the commando's in order to make a perimeter.

/.../

When Pebble eventually caught Dom up she found him no more than 50 meters from the tree line of the opening where Teor was going to be picked up. "Dom, drop your guns." Commented Pebble through gritted teeth, her STIMS were starting to wear off.

"You want to settle this the old way?" When Dom heard Pebble drop her weapons, he too dropped his weapons and turned 180 degrees to face Pebble. "Just like old... times. Also hit in the shoulder? Risky indeed."

Pebble nodded as she pulled twig out of its sheath. Some would say what Pebble was about to do was crazy, Dom had the strength, had been more active as of recently, was in heavy armour, and wasn't hit in the shoulder, however someone looking from Dom's perspective would say the same, Pebble had far more hours on record with blades and came with the speed of light armour, it would be a equal match. The real question here however should be why didn't Pebble just put a bullet in Dom's brain, that would have been the action of any other Tom Dick or Harry in Dom's position, so why a knife dual? The reason was because Pebble wanted Dom to feel every sensation as Twig buried deep into his flesh, a quick death was too good for him.

/.../

"Teor, why don't you come and take a seat, we will leave soon enough."

The young asari shook her head, a gesture that caused Gar to tilt his head slightly in confusion. "No thanks, I prefer to stand."

"Oka..."

Gar was interrupted. "Two humans having it out with knives at my position, what you want us to do?"

From how quickly the krogan commented after leaving to make the perimeter Gar knew that the battle was happening just next to the tree line of the opening. "I'm on my way, but in the meantime just let them battle it out."

"I'm coming with you!" quickly commented Teor, fearing that the spectres crew would prevent Pebble getting close to her position.

"You're not combat trained, stay here."

"You haven't had contact time with humans, I can help if it's required."

"Fine."

Just after speaking the line filled again with the Krogans laughter before it boomed. "They are laying on the floor looking at me like a pup would its mother."

"I told you to stay out of sight."

The Krogan laughed again before growling down the com-link. "I am Korgan, we don't hide like you Turians."

"Come on, we gotta move." Commented Gar as Teor placed a heavy rock on Russell's lead, causing the dog to stay within the protective barrier.

By the time Teor and Gar got to the krogans position the small battle was over, but one could not really say there was a victor, one was dead and the other was severely injured, a bullet wound to the hip and upper left chest, then a deep knife wound just under the ribs as well as limbs. At seeing the two Teor's stomach dropped till she recognised that Pebble was the one that had actually survived the battle, and then it dropped again as she got closer, her wounds were fatal if left untreated soon.

Teor quickly knelt down next to Pebble who was slumped up against a tree and held a hand on her knife wound. "You hurt." Pebble shook her head before allowing it to flop downwards, she felt too exhausted to keep her neck up right or give a verbal response.

"Gar she needs medical assistance."

"We need Reale's permission to do anything."

"Reale is passed out on the floor and this human saved mine and her ass. We owe it to her."

The Turian give a small grown before looking to the Krogan. "Carry her, we can't treat her here." After the Krogan picked Pebble up Teor remained behind for a second to pick up Twig, which was currently covered in crimson red blood, and Pebbles gun.

/.../

As the Krogan laid down Pebble, Gar approached the three medics. "Once you're finished here Teor has another patient for you."

Two of the medics stood up, one was Logi and the other was a nurse who worked under Logi. "Reale is stabilised and safe to move, who is the other casualty?"

Gar spoke as he walked the two towards Pebble. "The human."

"Injuries?"

"Varied."

Getting to Pebble Logi knelled down next to Teor and gently moved her hand from applying pressure to a wound. "I need to assess her injuries."

Teor sat back and watched with tears in her eyes as the two doctors worked, but she was quickly forced to act again as Russell made an appearance and started growling and snarling at the two Asari who was working over Pebble. Quickly getting to her feet she pulled the dog back and attempted to tame its aggression, as she did so she remembered a comment Pebble had made multiple times. 'A dog's man's best friend.' It brought another tear to her eye as she thought how Russell was probably just wanting to defend his injured owner from some strangers. Russell was simply doing what any good friend would in its position.

"Fesi, I need an ELSU"

Teor had heard of ELSU's before, they meant emergence life support unit.

"Logi, we can't take her back with us."

Fesi replied to Gar over the radio. "Gar, if that's the person who saved my wife then I will be damned if I allow you to leave her here to die." Fesi appeared a short time later with a large container that appeared rather heavy.

Logi quickly raided the box and pulled out a small device. "Gar I need an answer now."

Fesi looked at Gar and give a look of ice as she replied. "Gar, I will never forgive you."

The Turian growled much like Russell before finally saying. "Fine."

/.../

/.../

/.../

/.../

Okay guys, I'm going to consider this part? finished, but first I would like to tell you about the three other ending's i had in mind, you can tell me if I chose the right one, and then about what the story is going to be about if I do a part 2.

1. Pebble won the battle but remained on earth, Cerberus left her alone when they didn't get the technology they wanted, she committed suicide shortly after, unwilling to die from cancer.

2. Reale got captured, Pebble died in combat, Teor barely escapes back home.

3. Turned out Pebble was willingly working for Cerberus under her own master plan, Technology, Reale, and Teor captured. - this one was in the running for a very very long time, just couldn't bring my self to make it come to reality, even got the chapters written for it somewhere, might publish them sometime in the future as a 'alternate reality'.

Right part 2 storyline, IF I do it, no spoilers.

Basically, Pebble and Teor is recruited into Reales team for reasons I'm not yet revealing, then somehow, (Another reason I'm not yet revealing) They are sucked into another universe where Humanity is a major player in the universe, Guess what they have to do? Get back home! The story will be called 'Planet: Earth' .

When / If I do it, I'll post another chapter in this story with the details of how its going to go down.


	28. Pre Earth 1

**Planet E561 No 2 (Planet: Earth) Update!**

**I have a few chapters written for this story but I haven't published them yet as I've been, and I'm going to be extremely busy for an unknown time period (Work has gone shit crazy hectic) so because of this I've been keeping them for when I can keep a some what regular update schedule.**

**Anyway, I've also done a bonus chapter for E561 to keep you guys ticking over, it looks at what life is going to be like for Pebble in the foreseeable future (Till ****_Planet: Earth_**** comes out) I've also hit on what has been toyyed with for a few chapters (I'll let you figure out what that is), and I've looked at what an Asari estate belonging to a Matriarch is like. **

**Cheers for your patience in waiting for Earth to be released.**

/.../

"Pebble?"

Pebble groaned and raised a hand to her eyes in a futile attempt to rub away the grogginess and force her eyes to accept the light. "Yea?"

"What is the last thing you can remember?" asked Teor.

"Killing the ass Dom. I take it the shuttle didn't arrive?" Teor looked to her mother and give a nod before turning back to the human that was beginning to experiment with opening her eyes.

"Not Exactly."

"Wait a sec, how in the name are we talking?" Pebble was still trying to get her eyes to accept the light. "Did I pop it?"

"It was deemed necessary for myself to get a neural adapter fitted, like Reale, when I returned to Little-bird."

Pebble pulled the covers of her bed over her eyes, allowing herself to open them. "Don't tell me you came back?"

"You could say that."

"Am I on Earth then?"

Teor shook her head as she looked out the nearest window and out into the sea. "Far from it. Thessia."

Pebble sighed. "Surprised your Spectre allowed me back."

Teor chuckled slightly as she remembered the argument with Gar. "You nearly weren't. How are you feeling?"

Pebble tested her eyes against the light before emerging from under the quilt. "Sore, all over."

"Yes, our doctors were forced to perform a good few operations to remove the majority of the cancerous growths."

Pebble waved a dismissive hand and sat on the side of the bed. "Shouldn't have bothered, they will come back."

"We've removed the radiation and were administering a powerful serum to make sure anything left behind is destroyed." Pebble was about to stand off the bed but Teor stopped her with a hand to the shoulder. "There is one more thing, we also replaced your leg from just above the knee so your going to have to take it slow for a while."

Pebble looked down to her left knee. "Heh, thanks I guess." Pebble ran a finger up and down her leg, it felt completely natural. "Is it natural, robotic or what?"

"Biological."

"How long I got to stay off it?"

Teor shook her head and give a slight shrug before gently taking Pebble's hand and helping her off of the bed. "You only need to take it easy." Teor waited till Pebble was firmly on her own feet before asking. "How does it feel?"

Pebble gently shifted her weight from foot to foot. "Weak, but other than that normal." 'As it should' mused Teor as she thought about the the price of the leg. "Will it be able to get as strong as my other leg?"

"Yes, it's identical to your old leg in every aspect apart from all the damage it had sustained."

Pebble walked around the room slightly so she could get a feel for the leg, if Teor hadn't told her it was a replacement she would never have known, just thought she lost some muscle on it for some odd reason. "It feels completely normal, no pain or anything."

"Good." Replied Teor as she picked up a set of clothes. "So after getting some food you will be up for a tour of my mothers estate?"

"Don't see why not."

"Well, you might want to get changed out of medical robes first."

/.../

"Dam, talk about body hugging."

Teor turned Pebble around 360 to get a good idea of the fit. "You will get used to it, all Asari clothes take the same format unless for a special reason or occasion. Leg still okay?"

Pebble give her leg a small stretch. "Yep, still attached."

"As it should be. I suppose I'll start your tour here till we get to the place for food. This is the primary medical suite on my mothers estate, it is designated for seriously injured Commando's, small children, yourself and my family. My family takes priority over the rest providing someone else isn't in a critical condition."

Pebble looked around, the room was filled with all sorts of machines that Pebble couldn't even begin to guess the function of. "Okay, get much trouble or something?"

"Not really, just my mother is very serious about our health." Responded Teor as she led the human out the room and into a large corridor. "This corridor links every part of the inner estate. The room on your left is a Contritrium..."

"Sorry, a Contritrium?" quickly interjected Pebble.

Teor back tracked and went into the room. "If a commando has any muscle damage they come here for medicinal massages and what ever else they require."

"Sorry, I was technically classed as a 'Commando' as much as an insurgent or black-op's team, when you say Commando are you talking about the same type of thing or something else?"

Teor sort of shook her head and blinked at the same time. "They can perform that task but they will only do so if someone from this estate needs rescuing for what ever reason. Their primary task is to protect this estate's Matriarch, who is my mother, and her family."

"So why was it Reale who came for you and not the Commando's?"

"Your species is pre-contact, the mission had to be orchestrated with a special touch and permission from the council, a Spectre was the only choice my mother had. Anyway, 2 points if you can guess what this room is." Teor led Pebble into a hot kitchen with 20 or so staff members, a few who noticed them enter bowed their heads in Teor's direction before resuming what ever they were doing.

"What's with the head bowing?"

"I'm the daughter of this estate's Matriarch." Pebble give a confused look forcing Teor to continue. "My mother owns all this land, pay's their wage, and voices their needs, concerns or anything else on their minds to the other Matriarchs who form our government. It is a sign of respect I suppose."

"Your mother sounds a bit like a councillor or something."

Teor squinted in thought before speaking a short time later. "Matriarch's are incredibly respected people in our society, they make the decisions that lead our people and the laws that govern our lands. To work for, and live on the land of a Matriarch is a great privilege, if that is similar to a human councillor then yes, you could say she is a councillor."

Pebble shook her head, Human councillors weren't respected people, most thought of them as corrupt ass-holes requiring a good beating. "Not really then, also I'm going to guess that being the daughter of a Matriarch carries some advantages?"

Teor shrugged, that was a hard question to answer. "Sort of, as you may be able to guess I have a lot of power in this estate, if I ask some one to jump, because of who my mother is they will ask how high and if I apply for something, like a university, and the university finds out who my mother is I am basically accepted on the spot. However it also has it's disadvantages, my mother is often away meeting the other Matriarchs so we at times have little time for family, I find it hard making friends because people are scared of my mother, then my mother nearly always has at least 1 commando follow me around as she is scared of someone taking me to manipulate herself, and other Matriarchs who aren't the friendliest with my mother will observe myself and sister to try and dig up dirt to use against my mother, meaning I have to be incredibly careful in everything I do."

Pebble give a little whistle. "I don't know what to make of that then."

Teor sighed, neither did she. "Yes, anyway this is the estate's kitchen, it feeds nearly 820 people 4 meals a day every day of the year. You, my family, and the commando's will very rarely eat meals from this kitchen, but if you want a snack it will come from here."

"How come ? And okay."

Teor led Pebble out of the kitchen and back into the corridor before stopping at the next room which was the estate's dining hall. "Tradition mostly, as is it tradition for ourselves to very rarely eat a meal in this hall."

"So when would we eat a meal in this hall?"

"We have a holiday for one week of the year where nearly all Asari return to their place of residence, during this holiday everyone from a household or estate will eat the same meal in the same hall on the first and last day of the holiday, no matter of their status."

"I guess this is an important holiday that carries some significance then?" asked Pebble.

"Yes, it celebrates when we as a people linked hands for the first time and conquered the relays as a species and not as single nations."

"I wonder if my own people will ever get to enjoy a similar celebration."

"I believe they will. Now come on..." Teor led Pebble through the hall and to an empty table. "You need something to last you till dinner, so sit and I'll grab something light."

/.../

Pebble sat down at the table while Teor went to talk to someone about acquiring some eezo free food, whatever that was. While she waited she looked around the room, currently she guessed there was 20 or so other Asari sat in the room, some had friends and were happily talking to one another over some snacks, others were sitting on their own reading from an omni-tool oblivious of the world around them, and one or two were standing around a machine of some sort, if the Asari were switched for Humans one could very easily mistake the place for being an extremely large human cafe.

"It's Pebble yes?"

Pebble was pulled out of her thoughts and back into reality to answer the Asari who seemed to appear out of thin air. "Yes, and you are?" After asking the question she instantly regretted it, if she took more than one second to look at the person standing opposite her she would of realised who it was, the Asari appeared exactly like Teor just with a slight change of clothes and a full set of crests. "Oh sorry, it's Matriarch... Am'Ber correct?"

The Asari smiled slightly before taking a seat. "Surprisingly not, I'm actually Teor's sister."

Pebble had a deep in thought look that was easily translatable across species before speaking a short time later. "You know, I don't think Teor actually told me your name. Anyway it's good to meet you, and sorry, I would give an Asari equivalent of the human handshake but I have no idea what it is."

Geiger raised a brow before giving her response. "Oh? She didn't did she? Well, I'm Geiger and don't worry about formal greetings and what not for now, it's not expected of you to simply know everything required to jump into our society's deep end, however for your knowledge the usual greeting would be a bow of the head and stating the persons name, but like I said, don't worry about it for now as we don't expect it." Geiger sipped some hot drink while rather disturbingly to Pebble, stared straight into her eyes. "Anyway its good to see your eyes, when your first came in you weren't in the most stable of conditions."

Pebble subconsciously rubbed her hip. "Yeah, that was courtesy of the people hunting your sister on my planet, they weren't the friendliest bunch."

Geiger looked distracted for a short time before giving a response. "From the sounds of things that they weren't, anyway I've got things to do and not a whole lot of time to do them. I'll probably see you at dinner tonight." With that the Asari stood and give a slight bow, which Pebble returned, and moved on only to be replaced by Teor a few seconds later.

Teor placed a tray with some food on in front of Pebble as she sat down. "Sorry for taking so long, we had to check your food for traces of eezo."

Pebble looked at the food Toer had acquired, it appeared incredibly fruity with lots of colours and juicy looking foods that appeared kiwi like in texture. "If its going to be a pain I'll just eat the eezo, probably, then again most definitely eaten worse in my years."

Teor shook her head and sat back as Pebble started to pick at the food, trying small samples of the different fruits? on her plate. "Yeah, you don't want that." Teor watched Pebble's facial expressions as she tried the different foods, only continuing when she was satisfied the human liked or at least was willing to eat the fruit provided. "On Earth you very rarely encountered eezo deposits, so much so in fact you had the lowest recorded levels our medical staff has ever seen in the blood stream, and we have taken you from this eezo barren place and brought you to a planet with an abundance of the stuff. Just by breathing our air your eezo levels have increased by a factor of 5."

"So my bodies going to have a rough time of it?"

Teor give a nod and a blink. "Russell was vomiting none stop for a good two weeks, and I hate to tell you but Russell's liver is doing a better job than your own at removing the eezo."

Pebble sighed as she wondered when Teor was going to tell her this information if she didn't bring the topic up. "Sounds like I'm going to have a wale of time then."

"If that is what you call being seriously ill then yes, and I'm afraid that after a small incident we are incredibly wary of giving you any medication we haven't previously used on your self."

Pebble raised a brow. "Incident?"

"We had a little worry when some of our medication nearly caused brain damage."

"Ah."

"Yes, 'ah', now is there anything else you want to know about upcomming medical problems or do you want me to move on?"

Pebble shrugged, she did have a few questions but she could ask when and if they ever became relevant. "No, I'm good to move on."

Teor nodded before turning to ask a passing member of the catering staff to bring two cups of hot nigorid, an Asari equivalent of a warm cup of milk, turning back around after the waiter went Teor resumed the conversation. "Right, well I need to go over one or two things about yourself and what life is going to be like for you now."

"Okay."

"I'll start at the bottom, because of what you did, what you are, and who my mother is the Asari government, my government, has accepted you as a citizen, so in the books you are officially an Asari which means you will have the same basic rights all Asari do and our government will represent yourself, but there is a catch." Pebble raised a brow but remained silent. "My government is concerned about your history and to be frank about your species tendency towards violence, so for the next two years you are required to live on this estate and be accompanied by someone from this estate if you visit somewhere, this is purely so they can keep an eye on yourself and if you prove you can be trusted they will let you live however you wish afterwards."

Pebble nodded. "Right, so what if I want a job or something similar?"

Teor blinked. "Already thought of. For the next two years you are going to be working for my mother, after that you can chose to get a new job if you wish. Although you probably wont need a job for the next 40 years, our government has set-up a bank account for you with a reasonable sum inside."

Pebble rubbed the back of her neck as she shook her head. "Nice to know, and what has your mother got in mind for me?"

"You will be given a choice of various things but one question first. You commanded a squad correct?" Pebble nodded. "Great, did you train your squad?"

Pebble sighed as she could see where this was going. "Yes and no, for a long time I was the leader and tactician of the group that made the decisions, and if someone new joined the group I was the one responsible for getting them used to our tactics."

"What about from scratch. 0 previous training."

Pebble rubbed the back of her neck again. "I suppose I probably could."

Teor blinked. "Right, well I'll tell you what my mother wants you to do. A few of the Matriarchs are curious as to how your training differs from Asari commando's, they will fund you to train a group of 20 the way you were trained."

"They do realise I can't do biotics?" Teor didn't reply as she turned to accept the drinks the waiter brought them, when Teor passed a drink to Pebble she raised a brow. "What about the eezo? Won't pure water be best?."

After Teor thanked the waiter she give her response. "You may be surprised to find that water has higher quantities of eezo than this milk. Anyway that isn't a problem."

Pebble stared at her drink as she pondered the request for her to train 20 Asari, eventually when she had a decision she looked back up. "You do understand that I was apart of cerberus alpha squad, and that we were trained with the most brutal ways to achieve the best results?" Teor blinked over her cup of nigorid. "Then sure, don't see why I shouldn't give it ago."

"My mother will be pleased to hear that."

Pebble took a sip of her nigorid, it was surprisingly sweet, in fact it was too sweet to drink in large quantities. "That is... an acquired taste."

"You do not like it?" Teor cocked her head to the side, no one disliked nigorid, not even the Turians.

"Honestly, no." Teor looked like she was about to say something but Pebble cut her off. "Look, I'll just drink the water, I'd rather get this over with than try to delay the inevitable for as long as possible."

/.../

Teor led Pebble to another building using the same corridor. "This building is the inner Estate's school, it currently has 156 pupils ranging from 45 to 75."

Pebble give a small laugh. "Heh, I've never been inside a school before, sort of funny that my first one is Asari."

Teor raised a brow. "You haven't?"

Pebble shook her head as she remembered the Cerberus facility that give her the education she used all too often. "No, Cerberus wanted super soldiers who knew next to nothing but war, so when most kids started school I started battlefield training."

"That must have been awful, a child should never have battlefield training."

Pebble shrugged. "It was at first, but after a year or two I eventually got used to everything."

Teor shook her head and sighed as she walked up to a window so she could peer into the classroom. "Well, this school specialises in agricultural sciences and maths."

"Sounds... interesting." Pebble walked to the side of Teor and looked in the room.

"I doubt you truly believe that."

Pebble sighed. "To be honest I was thinking about how I once used cloud seeding to flood an enemy base, and I suppose cloud seeding came from agricultural research, wanting to water crops and what not."

Teor clenched her fists, cloud seeding isn't a part of agricultural science, or at least to the galactic community it isn't.. "You actually did that?"

"Oh yeah, you have no idea how effective it was."

"I'm not quite sure I want to know." Teor walked further up the corridor and came to a stop at a relatively large yard where some students appeared to be playing some sort of biotic sport. "This yard is dedicated to biotic training, I doubt you will ever use it."

Pebble looked to her hands, half wishing she had biotic's. "Unfortunately not."

"Yes, but we do have a shooting range a bit further along this corridor." Pebble instantly felt a smile twig at her lips at hearing that statement. "Although you will probably have one or two ideas for upgrades, the Commando's spend more time here tuning their biotics than their aim."

"Probably. Actually while were talking about firing range's did you save my gun's by any chance?"

Teor nodded as she continued down the corridor. "Yes, your rifle, hand cannon and smg is securely stored in a led lined locker." Teor looked to Pebble before continuing, "My mother isn't keen on radio-active elements being stored in standard weapon lockers."

Pebble shrugged, her own lockers on earth were also led lined. "Yeah, I was in the same boat. And thank god for that, I love that rifle."

After entering another room, the purpose of which was not entirely clear, Teor give a response. "Yes, and my mothers Sitram, Batha, also seems to have taken a liken to your weapon, it won't surprise me if she tries to bargain for it somehow."

Pebble shook her head as a small smile formed on her face. "It is a beutiful weapon. Has she fired it?"

"No, just stared at it, alot." After crossing the room Teor entered a rather large gym where multiple Asari were working out. "And I mean alot. Anyway this is the Commando's gym, it's fully equipped with the latest exercise machines but I suspect one or two of them will be too easy for yourself.

Pebble approached the nearest machine to herself that was designed to strengthen various chest, and back muscles to inspect the difficulty levels available, while the top level was something she found comfortable, but difficult she suspected it would quickly become too easy, after all she was no longer fighting various medical conditions so could regain her peak strength. "Yeah, I think your right but don't worry about it, I know various exercises which will compensate for the lack of difficulty."

"Right, well I'll have someone look into ways of increasing the difficulty, anyway I would give you a quick tour of everything in here but to be truthful I don't know what half the machines are never mind their purpose."

Pebble wafted a hand in a dismissive manner. "Ah really, don't worry about it, also I'm sure one of you commando's can give me the tour at some later point in time."

Just as Teor turned around to leave the gym three commando's walked in, after the usual bowing of the head and exchange of pleasantries Teor pulled one of the older commando's aside and had a few words in galactic before changing her tool back to English. "Pebble, this is Vasir T'Caan, Vasir I'm sure you know who this is."

The Asari blinked before surprising Pebble by holding a hand out. "Good to see you on your feet, it is the right hand yes?"

Pebble blinked and give a small nod as she accepted the hand shake. "Likewise and yes. I take it you have been learning human antics for a reason?"

Teor replied for Vasir. "Yes, Vasir is in charge of our armoury and firing ranges, so considering your passion for weapons I have asked her to learn a few things about your species."

Pebble ended the handshake after it became apparent that Vasir was not going to do so. "Well, it sounds like were going to be seeing alot of one another."

"Yes, it appears so. Teor, are you going to the range and armoury." After a blink Vasir continued. "Great, well I'll tell you now, if you need anything like ammo, guns, or just knowledge you now know who I am so give me a shout."

"Will do cheers."

Vasir bowed her head slightly in Pebble's directions before looking to Teor. "Need anything else?" Teor shook her head as she clenched her fists, after which Vasir bowed her head in Teor's direction and quickly continued on with her day.

"She seemed friendly enough, also I take it she's a Commando?"

"No, she used to be but after the tragic death of her bondmate she quit active duty to care for her young."

"Fair enough." After a rather silent walk to the next room of interest the previous solemn discussion was soon forgotten as Pebble stared at numerous ancient weapons all carefully secured to a wall, with the oldest weapons being on the far right side and the newest on the far left.

"This wall contains all the blood lance's of this estate's elite guards, the ones who protected the Matriarchs."

"Blood lance?" Quired Pebble.

"A weapon used by, or passed down through multiple iterations of the guard's family."

"Oh." Was all Teor got in return, Pebble's focus had completely shifted to a weapon on the wall.

Teor rolled her eyes at Pebble's look of pure awe. "Yes, you can take it down from the wall."

Pebble gently lifted one of the items down from the wall. "I always wanted to use a one of these, but Cerbs thought they were too bulky and hard to conceal for real world use." After a small inspection she followed with a question. "How old is it?"

"3400 and something years."

Pebble immediately stopped her inspection and placed the weapon back with such care one would think she was handling a new born. "I don't quite trust myself with something of such age."

Teor picked the weapon up immediately after Pebble put it down. "My mother pays ridiculous amounts to keep these items in pristine condition, to break it you would have to do something to it that would have broken it straight after it was forged." After speaking she pulled the sheath off the katanna like sword, revealing a crimson red blade with a rocky texture.

"I was expecting something shiny and metal looking, not that."

Teor blinked as she held the sword out to Pebble. "Take the grip and feel the weight."

Pebble carefully took the grip and lifted the weapon from Teor's hand, but as she expected a heavy item she put too much force into it and lifted it far quicker than she anticipated, giving her a small shock that nearly made her lose control of the sword and drop it. "That has to be less than a kilo, what's it made of?"

Teor give another blink before she explained about the weapon. "Just over actually, 1.02 kg, and a titanium alloy."

"Jesus." Pebble give the sword a small twist and thrust before handing it back to Teor. "Humanity didn't discover Titanium until 400 years back, just before the 1800's, that is if my memory serves me right."

"Well, technically we only re-discovered it 1100 years back. This sword was forged by a group known as the Drakumia, they were famous in their time for their secrecy in weapon development, when they perished so did their secret of Titanium."

Pebble nodded after the explanation and walked a little up the wall till she came to two weapons concealed behind thick glass. "What's so special about these?"

Teor came to stand next to Pebble before starting her explanation. "The item on the left belonged to Matriarch Teos Am'Ber, my great, great, great, great grandmother, while the item on the right belonged to her Sitram, her most loyal guard."

Pebble looked up the wall and noticed six other glass boxes, all but 1 from the left side had a second item in the box. "So why not put that weapon with the other guards?"

Teor started to walk up the wall a bit more as she started to talk. "Because a Sitram is not your usual guard, you see, a Sitram would swear all she had to the Matriarch, she would not have a family as such, own no money, live in the Matriarch's home, and she was the sole guard the Matriarch would trust with her young children."

"So what exactly does a Sitram get out of this deal? I mean it doesn't sound very lucrative for the guard."

Teor stopped and swerved on her feet for a little before responding. "Okay, lets start from the very beginning. When the Matriarch is a young adolescent, her mother who is the current matriarch, chooses a child of 50 years to become her daughters Sitram, this child will then be provided for, expected to train from that day forward and live a strict chastise life till she is ready to protect the Matriarch's daughter and future grandaughters, however that is not her only role." Teor walked further up the wall till she came across another glass cabinet. "It is expected that this Sitram will father, or mother under certain medical circumstances, at least one of the Matriarchs grand daughters."

Pebble frowned, this smelled in some aspects awfully like arranged marriages. "Does this child have a choice if she wants to become a Sitram? and how do you mean by she's provided for?"

Teor smiled slightly at Pebble's curiosity. "Yes, the child is given the option however a very rare few decline it. It would be like being offered to become a future king or queen to someone of great power in your own culture, who you by tradition idolise from birth. By being provided for I mean that almost every need and desire is satisfied by the current Matriarch, and future Matriarch, also their source family is looked after well."

"Interesting. Is this Sitram tradition still a thing?"

Teor nodded before moving to look at one of the first fire arms on the wall. "Yes, but since the WOU it has become a quickly dying tradition."

"How about in your family."

Teor suppressed a smile, wanting to see where Pebble was going with this. "I was born of Sitram, yes."

"Do you have a Sitram yourself?"

Teor allowed her smile to make its appearance as she give Pebble a hard look. "Why would one be curious?"

Pebble gained a few shades of red but shrugged as she began to look at a weapon. "Can one not be curious?"

"No." Teor teased as she moved to the next weapon, eventually after a short silence she spoke again. "My mother is currently looking for a suitable match, although yet another tradition states that my mother should look for a hundred years in order to find suitable parents of a Sitram."

"So what sort of qualities does a Sitram require?"

Teor quickly glanced to Pebble before moving to another glass case, however she kept her eyes on Pebble as she spoke. "Well, they have to be smart..." Teor noticed that with every quality she mentioned Pebble would give a nod as if she was ticking the quality off in her head. "...And last of all humble."

"Damit, just when I thought I was the perfect match, could I subsidise being humble with an awesome four legged hairy side-kick?"

Teor turned to look at Pebble and put her hands on her hips. "Now I wonder why you would want to be a Sitram?"

Pebble shrugged again as she looked at a small blade that reminded her of twig. "Well, you say nearly every desire or need is given right? So lets say one of my desires is..." Pebble started to splutter for words as she realised she had no desires outside the estate she awoke in. "To own a planet populated by alot of hot blue aliens."

Teor shook her head before turning back around. "Be careful for what you wish for, those hot blue aliens are known to be a rather jealous type."

Pebble give a slight nervous laugh before wiping her sweaty palms on her pants and following with a question. "So lets say a member of an unknown pre-relay species saved the daughter of a powerful Matriarch and was then returned with the Matriarch's daughter after sustaining battle wounds protecting said daughter. What would her chance of becoming a Sitram be?"

Teor blushed a dark shade of blue and was forced to turn away from Pebble to hide her embarrassment, only looking back a few seconds later when she regained control of her facial blood flow. "0." Teor then took a step forward to Pebble. "However one doesn't have to be a sitram to be a lover or a guard. 630pm sharp tonight on the beach I will show you later."

"Huh?"

"You humans do have date's don't you? I believe its time we had our first."

/.../

"I believe this is where you will be spending alot of your time." Pebble looked down the firing range, it was a rather simple one with a static target and no visible system to replicate movement. "Simple I know, although if you have any ideas for upgrades I'm sure my mother would think about it."

"Yes, simple indeed."

Teor blinked before heading to a heavy looking door made from metal. "We Asari are biotic fighters, you will be lucky if a commando spends an hour a week here."

After spotting a shot up target pinned on the wall Pebble shook her head. "I would often spend at least 35 hours in a combat simulator pre-war." Teor raised a curious brow forcing Pebble to expand. "Basically a supped up firing range with all the bells and whistles."

"Ah, well I'm sure you are the new crack shot in this estate." As Teor spoke she placed her thumb on a small pad, opening the door. "This room is locked to all but my family and Commando's, it requires a DNA sample and fingerprint to open so to get in you will need to be entered on the system by Vasir." After opening the door Pebble didn't need an explanation as to why the room was restricted to a select few, it was the Estate's armoury. "Your locker is the one on the end."

Pebble walked through the room to her locker and then opened it, her weapons were all neatly placed inside. Taking her ACR into her hands she give a small smile, it was a monster in size when compared to a few weapons that were laying on some work benches however she quickly frowned and shook her head in disbelief, the weapon was live as the safety pin was set to semi-automatic position. "Did some one clean the blood off this?"

"Yes, why?"

Pebble laughed again as she flicked the pin to the correct location. "If they pulled the trigger it would have fired."

"Oh."

"Yes, oh." After speaking she removed the clip inside, removed the bullet from the weapons chamber and then pushed the bullet inside the clip for later use. "I take it once I run out of ammunition for this weapon I have no more."

Teor shook her head. "Speak to Vasir for replacements, she has a 3d printer out back for producing different sorts of ammunitions and kit, all she needs is one bullet for the specifications and she can give you an endless supply." Pebble nodded before removing the bullet she just reinserted into the clip and balancing it on the primer inside her locker. "You good to move or do you have any questions about the place?"

Pebble shook her head, she probably would have a question or two if she thought about it but they were probably questions best answered by Vasir. "Nope, I'm ready to roll."

Teor led Pebble out and once the door to the armoury was shut she give it a good tug. "When you leave the room double check the door is locked, the occasional child comes here and I would dread to think what would happen if they got inside the room."

"A child comes here?"

Teor rolled her eyes and give a sigh. "Yes, if they get caught in this area without an adult they are sent to my mother for disciplinary action, it has become a game for the children."

"A game?"

"A game of dares. My mother has become incredibly harsh on the rule breakers for this room, so for a thill, a bet or to show off the children often see who can stay in the longest before running."

Pebble give a slight chuckle. "What we did to people who accidentally stumbled into our barracks at Cerbs was to tape them to a wall somewhere and then throw knives around their body, closer the better, if they soiled themselves we'd finish the day early and hit the pub, fair to say that we got very few accidental or unwanted visitors."

"Hmm, I think we would get Reale investigating us if we did that, although it probably would put a stop to it."

After going through yet another door and looking around Pebble gained a smile that could only be produced by one furry four legged friend. Russell was currently running around on a field while being chased by a group of young giggling children. "Looks like Russell's made friends."

Teor blinked. "Russell has been the talk of this estate for a good few days and still is, I think he has made more than a fair share of friends indeed."

"Well, aslong as everyone knows he's my little shit I'm happy he's getting along here." Pebble give a quick and loud finger whistle, gaining the attention of her dog who turned and instantly began running in her direction.

Teor took a step away from Pebble. "Just be careful of your leg will you?"

Pebble just give a slight smile and leaned slightly forward, anticipating Russell's forward momentum. It took the dog a couple of second's longer to reach Pebble and when it did it didn't hold back and jumped into her awaiting arms at full velocity causing Pebble to fall onto her back. As the two played on the floor Teor turned to look at the children who was now sat starring at Pebble playing with the dog in a way they had never seen before. "Children, this is her pet, don't try to recreate this scene."

After alot of silent blink's and a few 'Yes my lady' she turned back to watch as Pebble began wrestling the dog for the ball in its mouth, after alot of growling from Russell and tugging by Pebble, the human eventually won the ball and stood back up, handing the soggy ball to Teor. "I'll let you decide which kid gets to throw the ball."

Teor changed her adapter back to galactic and faced the children. "Children, what are you supposed to do if Russell growls at you?"

One of the shorter children put a hand in the air while shouting out. "Back off."

"Correct." Teor approached the child and handed the ball over, but before the girl could throw it she spoke again. "Russell." The dog approached Teor and the girl with the ball. "Call his name and say 'hijam'."

The child frowned as she looked at Russell. "What does 'hijam' mean?"

"See how the dog has sat down?" The child blinked. "It is English for 'sit' now throw the ball."

After the child threw the ball Russell failed to move, but did look back to Pebble who just shrugged, eventually the human sighed and pointed to the ball. "Fetch." Without needing any more words the dog did as asked and returned to Pebble with the ball secured firmly in its mouth. "Children, see how he returned to Pebble?" After a few blinks she continued. "Pebble is this dogs master, whatever you see her do with Russell may not be safe to repeat, so you must ask Pebble, or myself, if you wish to interact with the dog, understood?"

One of the girls clenched her fists and wrinkled her nose slightly. "Why?"

"The dog has a nasty bite and we don't want you getting hurt." When Pebble passed the ball back to herself she continued. "Now, what planet is Pebble and Russell from?"

After a child answered Teor handed the ball over. As Russell ran after the ball and the children decided to chase after him Teor and Pebble turned to face the teacher that was supervising the children. "Tancos." When Pebble noticed Teor bow her head she followed suit.

Teor and Tancos had a short conversation in Galactic before Teor changed her tool back to English. "Pebble, this is Tancos Gool, she is this estate's fitness instructor."

"Good to meet." Pebble nodded her head slightly at Tancos, who returned the gesture.

"She is scheduled to be fitted with a translator soon..." Teor was silenced as a ear piercing scream filled the air, quickly turning around to the source Teor saw a group of children gathering around someone laying on the floor.

Pebble got a sickening sinking feeling in her stomach, what had Russell done now? "Russell!" As Teor and Tancos rushed to the scene to find out what was going on Pebble waited for Russell who quickly ran out of the crowd, when he got to Pebble's location she pointed to her feet and rather harshly spoke. "Stay."

The dog lowered its ears in a submisive manor and did as asked, allowing Pebble to make her way over to the scene. When she arrived she felt a large feeling of relief sweep through her body, Russell hadn't done as she feared and there was no bites, but instead a child had tripped and from the looks of things broken an ankle. In her days working for Ceberus she had witnessed many broken bones, even had some herself, she knew exactly what to do for the 7 major breaks that was most common on a battlefield, this included a broken ankle, however she didn't know whether she should help out. After a minute or two for the two elder Asari to assess the injury Tancos turned to a child and started giving an instruction, allowing Pebble to kneel next to Teor. "Broken ankle?"

Teor turned from trying to calm the child. "No Good." She spoke like she did on Earth, her neural adapter was obviously set to Galactic.

"Help?" Pebble pointed to the ankle.

Teor shook her head. "We have."

With that Pebble nodded and stood back up, chances are Tancos instructed the child from earlier to fetch someone from the medical suite, but as the child continued to sob over the obviously painful injury she got an idea. "Russell, come here."

When Russell failed to show Pebble turned to look for her dog and what she witnessed made her clench her fists in anger and turn back to Teor, after tapping her shoulder and waiting for her to turn she pointed to her dog who, thanks to some slightly younger looking Asari children, was floating in mid air.

Teor sighed before turning her tool back to English. "That is my Mother approaching, when she gets to them they will get what they have coming." Pebble turned to look down the field, sure enough an elder looking Asari was approaching.

/.../

As Pebble caught Russell from hitting the ground when the biotic field holding him in the air collapse she tried to listen to the Matriarch speak, but it was all in galactic, from the tone of things it sounded like the child was getting a rather brutal grilling. After lowering her furry friend to the ground and giving a good scratch behind the ears she straighten up and looked around, the problem children were now walking away with their tail tucked between their legs and the Matriarch was watching Russell. Pebble didn't know what to do, she wanted to thank the Matriarch but was their a specific way to do it? Was simply approaching the Matriarch and speaking an acceptable act? She didn't know, but she knew she had to do something more than stare and wonder. "Russell." After getting her dogs attention she approached the Matriarch. "Err, I suppose I should thank you for helping out my friend." The Matriarch smiled, shook her head, clenched her fists and then reached out to scratch Russell behind the ear with a confidence that showed she had done it a few times before. After a quick scratch she smiled again, nodded her head and then approached the injured child.

/.../

As the child got stretchered away with some medical staff Teor came to stand next to Pebble. "Always something happening on the estate."

Pebble nodded as she scratched the head of Russell who was sat next to her feet. "With an estate this size I'm not surprised."

"True, the numbers game does come into play."

Pebble nodded as she took a deep breath. "Right. Anyway we done here?"

"Not quite." Teor turned to look at her mother who was talking to Tancos. "I think my mother wants to have a word or two."

"Ah." Was all Pebble could respond. After a short time she continued. "I'm amazed at just how similar your sister and mother appear to yourself, other than the rare facial marking's on your Mother."

"You've met my sister?" asked Teor with a slight frown.

"I thought you saw her sat opposite me in the canteen place?" Teor shook her head. "Oh, well we had a short talk."

"Hmm. Anyway I'm not surprised you think we look similar, we all have the same DNA, so I think your people would call us naturally produced clones."

Pebble got distracted as the Matriarch approached. "Probably. Also before your mother arrives, Is there a way I thank your mother for taking me in and helping Russell?"

"She has a neural adapter."

"Yeah, but I mean by bowing the head getting on a knee or something?"

Teor rolled her eyes. "I've built up how powerful she is too much. Just use your tongue."

When Teor's mother arrived she surprised Pebble by releasing a rather frustrated sounding sigh and changing her omni-tool to English. "Pebble, I am so sorry about my pupils behaviour earlier, I assure you they will be strictly disciplined."

It took Pebble a second to register her response before she replied. "Ah don't worry about it."

The Matriarch blinked. "I wished I could but their behaviour was inappropriate to say the least. Anyway you have no idea how thankful I am of you for helping my daughter out."

Pebble shook her head. "I only did what any human should have done."

"Yes, but from the evidence not many was willingly to do so."

Pebble give a shrug. "Well I just did what I felt was right then."

The Matriarch nodded. "Yes, anyway I do not believe I have introduced myself, I'm Matriarch Verr Am'Ber." After speaking she held her hand out in a human manner.

Pebble reached out and took her hand. "Pebble Collins." The second after Pebble spoke her name she instantly regretted it, but then she quickly received after thoughts questioning her regret, she introduced her self as Pebble Collins when her true name was Ellie Collins, but who was she? Ellie collins was only ever used on paper on Earth, with only her mother and father occasionally calling her that, to the galaxy and everyone in it she was Pebble, but to the books on Earth she was Ellie, and she would bet Cerberus would have already removed her from all those books by now. No, to Pebble, Ellie Collins no longer existed, she died when she was recruited by Cerberus and took her first kill.

"Well Pebble, welcome to my home."

"Thanks for taking me in."

The matriarch clenched her fists slightly. "It was the least I could do. Now I wished I could stay and talk longer but I have some issues I need to take care of, so I hope you shall forgive me for having to make an early exit, although I am sure we will speak over dinner tonight."

/.../

Pebble stood next to Teor as she watched the Verr leave the field. "Don't suppose you know what will happen to the kid lifting Russell off the floor do you?"

Teor nodded as she looked down for and then leaned over to scratch Russell. "The person involved is a regular rule breaker, so for cruelty to animals, making yourself and Russell feel out of place, and committing a third serious offence?" She looked up to Pebble. "I suspect she will have a years worth of after school detentions, a good few months of un-paid work cleaning plates in the kitchen and an incredibly serious talk with my mother and her parents about her place in this estate."

"That severe huh?"

"My mother has made it incredibly clear that we are to help you integrate into our society, and she loves animals, infact she has taken a serious liking to Russell, this girl ignored her request, put Russell under duress and it is her third serious offence, it wont surprise me if she gets something alot heavier."

Pebble sighed before nodding. "Well, what ever she gets I think Russell will think it's fitting for the crimes."

"Yes, now are you wanting to continue this tour?

"How much of your estate is there left?" Asked Pebble with a genuine surprise in her voice.

Teor give a slight chuckle. "We haven't even gotten to the outer estate yet never mind the beach."

/.../

/.../

**So, I've made a matriarch's estate sound more like a village than a home, I've always had an idea that a powerful matriarch would have that type of home and well, I think it can make for some interesting little snippets, which I may publish one or two of if I can get a few minutes between work.**

**One last thing, do you think Pebble would ever be attracted to Teor? I know I have started it but I had serious doubts over doing it, after all would any of you date an alien?**


	29. Pre Earth 2

**I eventually have my life back! Yeah yeah yeah. Anyway, I have managed to get a few chapters of Earth done but I want to give you guys two more build up chapters (this one included) so its not just a random jump to when things have changed slightly.**

**Also I messed up in the previous chapter, if you remember in the first few chapters of E561 I had Teor's father as a land surveyor or something like that, anyway I completely forgot about that and rewrote her father last chapter, my bad, so from here forth I'm going to use Batha as her father and hopefully update the initial chapter with her fake father soon.**

/.../

"So, this is where you will call home for the foreseeable future."

Pebble looked over the building Teor had brought her too, it was a rather large single floor detached home that appeared to be newly built next to some older looking, but by no means any worse for wear, similar buildings. "Looks cosy. Who are my neighbours?"

"To your left you have Ramel Gari, and your right Cara Tvon and her family, both are Commando's."

Pebble nodded to this response as she followed Teor to her homes front door, ever since she got here she had been given all the same privileges the Commando's shared so this shouldn't have come as a surprise. "Teor, are you expecting me to become a Commando?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"Well, sofar you have given me all the same luxuries Commando's have."

Teor shook her head. "You have got these privileges because of what you did for me, the only time we will expect any commando like behaviour off yourself is the estate is put into lock down."

"And why will that happen?"

"The estate will only ever be locked down in two instances, the first is if any one in my family is attacked or threatened, the second is if we believe that an attack on the estate is imminent."

Pebble nodded, that seemed fair enough. "So, how often does that occur?"

"During times of war attacks on Matriarchs are common, but thankfully wars don't occur very often these days. Anyway should we go inside?" Pebble gestured to the door with a open hand to tell Teor to lead the way.

When Teor approached and opened the door to her home Pebble frowned. "No locks or anything?"

Teor smiled. "Not many are stupid enough to commit robbery in a street full of Commando's, and besides, robbery on my mothers estate is incredibly rare, I can't even remember the last time it happened so thats 65-70 plus years of security."

"Fair enough." After following Teor through the door Pebble looked around the room that she entered, it appeared to be a large living room that was also combined with a small kitchen that lacked any form of hobs or ovens.

"This is your living area, we have a sofa being hand made and it will be delivered in two days time."

Teor raised a brow. "Hand made?"

"Commando's live a life of luxury, I thought you would have recognised that by now."

"Yes, good point, but hand made?"

Teor rolled her eyes. "You still have alot to learn about my mother. Anyway in the far corner you have a fridge freezer, small sink and a micro-wave to prepare snacks when the kitchen is closed or when you simply want to stay in."

"What about cooking something more substantial?"

"You will have to visit the kitchen and ask them to prepare something for you, if its closed then you will have to make do or order in. In Asari culture it is very rare that you would prepare your own meal if you lived on an estate like this, infact it would be a slight insult to the kitchen staff."

"But what if the kitchen is closed?"

Teor frowned till she realised that Pebble didn't didn't know the kitchen hours. "Ah, the snack kitchen is open from 7am to 11pm, and the kitchen you will eat meals from provides food at 8am, 1pm, 5pm and 9pm, if you require food in the middle of the night you will have to rely on what's in your fridge. The only exception is if you are required to be up late for my mother, then the kitchen staff will have prepared something for you to heat up in one of the temp-ovens located in the dining hall you ate from earlier."

"Right." Teor led Pebble to a room at the back of the home that was filled with a large bed that was approximately twice the size of a human king sized bed. "Bloody hell, that's a big bed."

Teor shrugged, her bed was at least twice as big as the one before her now. "Should see the size of mine."

Pebble laughed slightly and shook her head. "Whats the need?"

"You will only understand once you sleep in a one. Anyway we've put some clothes in your wardrobe." Teor approached the closest wardrobe in the room before opening it to show Pebble.

Pebble approached and looked over the clothes, everything provided seemed like it was fancy dress that one wouldn't want to risk getting dirty, but taking into account everything else she would guess that these were also her 'practical' clothes. Without looking through the clothes much more she approached the room's window. "Now how do I open and close these blind things?"

"System, open bedroom blinds."

There was a 'beep' sound heard before the blinds started to open to reveal the estates large luxurious beach. "The entire home is hard wired to a computer, lighting, blinds, heating, entertainment systems, everything you can think about, even the water."

This pipped Pebble's curiosity. "What type of entertainment systems?"

Teor walked back into the living room. "System, play music, turn on visuals." Some tune from Pebble's old MP3 player began to play while a holovision television light up and tuned into some sort of news channel from the appearance of things. "Yes, I put your music player into the system before you ask."

"Cheers. System, turn off music and visuals." After speaking Pebble followed Teor through the one door she hand't yet been through, it was to the bathroom. "Wow." The bathroom was the largest private bathrooms Pebble had ever seen, the bath was multiple meters long and wide with the deepest end being approximately 1 metre deep, the shower was a menacing looking thing that had its own little glass mini-room and there was two sinks infront of a giant mirror.

"You will have to be careful of the floor, it is still to be roughened up so it will be slippery when wet."

Pebble looked down to the floor, it appeared to be a smooth marble of some sort. "I'll be sure to remember."

"Okay a few things to note, the bath has multiple massage modes built in which you activate through System, it takes about 20 mins to fill and you control the temperature once again through System. You ready to move on?"

Pebble nodded. "Sure."

/.../

"And this is our beach." Teor stretched her hands outwards gesturing to the beach, but the sands went for as far as the eye could see.

"How much of it?"

Teor smirked as she started to take off her shoes. "All of it."

"So, roughly how far is that?"

"7 kilo-metres of soft sand like this, or till you hit the cliffs up north and just past the river down south."

Pebble shook her head as she also took off her shoes. "You guys really are loaded aren't you?"

"It would be a lie to say that we have less than our fair share."

The two walked to the water front, disturbing some small feeding animals as they did so, when they got there Pebble waded ankle deep into the sea and was surprised at just how warm the water was. "Warm air and warm water, no wonder you hated my place." Teor simply just shrugged at the comment, it was common knowladge to most of the galaxy that Thessia, especially the part she was from, was a luscious warm planet year round. "Do you have much sea life?"

"Yes, in fact our beaches are quite populated with life, my mother enforces a strict anti commercial fishing rule for upto 1km out."

"So personal fishing is alright I take it?"

"Aslong as your not hunting a Furrback, which is an endangered species, then yes you can fish and if you take your haul to a chef, with an addition something for the chef herself of course, then they are usually happy to cook it for you."

Pebble quickly grabbed Russell as he ran past and took his ball. "Any other fish I should know about, like sharks or similar?"

"Well, we do get the rare Biotila come to lay eggs here, if you see one stay as far away as you can as they are very hostile and powerful biotics."

Pebble threw the ball into the ocean for Russell. "So what does this thing look like?"

"Its a large bright orange creature that continuously glows blue around its tail, trust me, its hard to miss them."

When Russell returned with his ball Pebble threw it again, but as she did so she got thinking. "Teor, I know this may sound stupid, but do you guys have anything in stock that I can use on my hair?"

Teor half nodded. "We think have a substitute but we don't know if it will be any good, your simply going to have to try it."

Pebble raised her brow as she got the ball back off Russell, while she wasn't the most typical of girls who liked the special shampoos, bath salts and what not, she did despise the smell of dirty hair. "Well, thats the least I can do then."

"Yes. Anyway here at 6." After speaking Teor started a slow walk up the beach.

"Its a date then, and where we off to now?"

"Well, I have two options, the first is the monastery, the second is the gardens and then after that I can show you where I live."

"You guys have your own monastery?" queried Pebble.

"Yes, its a long story but the massage parlour that my family founded is in a underground monastery at a cliffs edge, my mother funds the location and its monks, in result the monks allow a few rooms to be used as massage parlours and occasionally sing songs while we work."

"Okay then, I say which ever one is closer."

Teor nodded before turning to move in land. "The gardens then."

/.../

After Teor finished the tour of her mothers estate she left Pebble to her own devices in her newly constructed home for a few hours, and if Pebble was honest with herself she genuinely didn't know what to do. After she opened every draw, explored every room and figured out how to turn on the basic kitchen appliances she laid down on her bed and fiddled with her thumbs. What was a human in her position to do? Pebble remained in this thinking state for a long time, so much time that Russell had even fallen asleep ontop of her, but eventually she got bored and stood with a plan.

Once she got the pass to the armoury from Vasir Pebble made her way to her locker and pulled all her items out onto a nearby table, her SMG, assault riffle, twig, and ammo was all that was salvaged, she had no idea where her armour was but assumed it must be lying around somewhere as Teor had made it back alive. Once she found some tools some tools Pebble set to work cleaning and maintaining every item she had.

/.../

**1 Hour later.**

"You realise that knife can only get so sharp right?"

Pebble put twig down and turned to face the Asari who she guessed correctly as being Vasir. "Nope, anyway while were talking I don't suppose you have a empty waterbottle do you?"

Vasir frowned. "Probably in the bin, why you ask?"

Pebble walked over to the bin and sure enough there was an empty waterbotle or two to be found. "My guns reach 120db when firing, doubt the matriarch would be happy with that sound rattling over the estate."

Vasir's eyes went wide, her guns couldn't be that loud. "120db?"

Pebble give a blink and a nod before starting to cut one of the bottles up. "I hope this little trick can get that down to 90db." After a few minutes of work Pebble produced a rather flimsy looking silencer for her ACR.

"I have to say I'm skeptical."

Pebble shrugged off the remark, she had performed this trick many times before with great success. "Well, lets see shall we?" As she spoke she picked up her ACR and took it to the firing range with Vasir in close persuit. "Actually, before I fire this, how thick is that concrete wall behind the target?"

Vasir struggled to remember, the firing range was quite an age now and she had never been asked for that precise piece of information before. "About 30, 40cm I think."

"Hmm, Is there anything behind the wall and how thick is the metal on the back plate of the target?"

That Vasir did know. "No, and 1.5 cm, I doubt your bullets will pierce it as it's hardened steel, only our sniper rounds go through."

Pebble raised her riffle and quickly fired the gun, shocking Vasir who give a slight jump at the sudden bang. "Atahme, I thought you were kidding about the sound, I'll have to get some foam or something to suppress the sound further."

This comment caused Pebble to smile. My SMG will be far quieter. Also I peirced your target."

Once Pebble put her gun down Vasir walked up the range and removed the target. "Well, we need a thicker backplate."

"I found concrete blocks to be best."

Once a new plate was put on Vasir returned. "I'll look into setting something up then."

"If its effort don't bother, I'll just use the SMG as primary."

Vasir waved a dismissive hand. "I get paid to run this place so I'll look into it."

Pebble shrugged, she didn't mind either way. "Alrighty then. Anyway lets see if the SMG will pierce it."

After grabbing the SMG, applying her makeshift silencer and returning Pebble was suprised by a small remark. "That's a smg? It's as big as our assault riffles." Pebble only raised her brow before firing the gun, it too penetrated the metal plate. "You humans really have mastered the armour piercing round haven't you?"

Pebble shrugged. "Not all humans have access to this type of ammo as it is unique to the organisation I worked for, so if I was to fire standard rounds the plate would have stopped the bullets dead."

"I'm curious then, do you guys have armour that can stop these rounds or are you out of luck if one of these has your name engraved?"

"I currently don't know of any armour capable of stopping them, including the stuff the spectre wore. Anyway talking about armour, do you have any idea as to where my powered suit has gone? Teor would have been wearing it when she left Earth."

"Yes, about your armour.." Vasir loosely crossed her arms . "We may have accidently damaged it trying to get it off Teor, so the Matriarch sent it off to some specialists to get it repaired, should be back anyday now."

"Fair do's."

/.../

The moment Pebble sat down at the dinner table she felt the eyes of Teors family change direction to stare at herself, it was rather unnerving to say the least.

"So Pebble, I trust my daughter has shown you around our home?"

Pebble turned to face the Matriarch. "I believe she showed me the majority of the place, yes."

"I'm curious then as to what you think."

Pebble released a deep breath before leaning forward slightly. "To be honest I don't know what to think, we have nothing like this on Earth. The community aspect especially, I mean a lot of people live in villages, so we live near one another but to all eat in the same building? And to all work for one person? It's a new experience to say the least."

"It sounds like you live more like Turians, especially with all the military things." Commented Geiger.

Teor, who was sat next to Pebble shook her head, much to her mothers approval. "Not really, while humans have large militarises they don't have the same kind of military integration into their communities."

"Salarian then?" Queried Batha.

"Far from it."

Pebble sat back as the family discussed what civilisation humans most represented, she would have participated, but she didn't even know what a Turian or Salarian looked like never mind how their community was structured. Eventually the Matriarch broke the conversation. "I hope your accommodation is of satisfactory standards."

It took Pebble a second or two realise the Matriarch was speaking to herself. "Ah, erm yes. Actually, if anything its probably too good for me."

"It is just the standard accommodation I provide, but if your species require anything special not yet provided just ask."

Pebble did have one thing she needed and failed to find in her home. "Actually, I may need one thing. A comb for my hair."

"Vasir should be able to print a one for you." Commented Geiger.

"I'll ask her later then."

"Alright, well I am now curious in yourself Pebble, What are your hobbies? What do you enjoy doing in your spare time, anything that will help me get to know you better." Asked Verr.

"Hobbies?" Pebble released a slight breath. "Well, I used to enjoy fixing up old engines and bikes, but other than that I don't really have a hobby."

"Your weapons?" asked Teor.

Pebble shook her head. "That is more of a chore than a hobby."

"Hmm, I doubt our eezo engines will be any good for yourself. Do you read?"

That was something Pebble used to enjoy also. "Yes, I do enjoy a read of the history books."

"So you enjoy learning about history."

Pebble released a slight laugh as she shook her head. "Not quite, more like I read to learn how regimes collapsed and why battles were won or lost so I could perform my job to the best of my abilities."

Verr glanced slightly to Batha before looking back to Pebble. "Yes, about your job, what was it exactly that you did?"

Pebble looked to Batha. "It's not exactly dinner table stuff."

Batha shrugged. "Foods not on the table yet."

Pebble took a deep breath. "Pre-war it was my job to fall regimes, during war I either eliminated the high value targets so the regulars didn't get torn apart doing their job, or I infiltrated complexes to steal sensitive intel. Anyway out of curiosity what do you guys do for a living?"

The Matriarch was the first to answer. "Other than running this estate and making sure everyone is content, I form apart of the back bone that holds our political system in place, and I help negotiate deals for our local businesses with the rest of the galactic community."

Geiger was next. "My full time job is dance but I am hoping to get into Armarli university either next or the year after to study Terraforming."

"And my purpose is to protect the Matriarch's daughters from any... and all threats"

The table returned to a slight silence as the Matriarch stared at Batha, eventually Pebble spoke up. "Well, it seems you guys all have a much more civilised life than my own."

"Yes, as nice as it would be to continue this conversation I believe we will have to do so later." The Matriarch looked past Pebble so she turned around to look at what had gotten the Matriarch's attention, it turned out numerous trolleys laden with plates were being rolled into the hall and being served out to the Commando's and their families, Pebble noted that even with the plates on the table no one in the hall had touched the food, not even the children. When the food eventually arrived at the table it was the last to be served and the Matriarch was given her plate last. The moment the Matriarch picked up her cutlery the entire hall eventually began to eat.

With the rest of the table eating Pebble studied the knife and 'stavi' served with the food, the knife looked like any other cutlery knife but the stavi was a new beast she had never seen, it was a chamfered metal cylinder that started was rather fat at the top but ended in a blunt narrow point, with the cylinder's sides being ever so slightly rough to the touch.

Looking down to the food served, Pebble noticed that her plate contained some fish looking meat and some other vegetables? After stabbing the fish like substance with her stavi Pebble found that while fish? looked fish like it had more of a steak consistency and would require to be cut and chewed for consumption, once a small slither was cut Pebble tried to impale the sample, but each time she stabbed the meat it failed to stay on her stavi, no matter how hard she stabbed it. "Try impaling it at an angle."

Pebble did as Teor suggested, and while she did get the food to stay on the stavi she half expected it to drop before it reached her mouth, which it did. After a few more attempts Pebble was seriously tempted to just use her fingers, and get Vasir to 3d print her a fork. "It takes some getting used to."

Pebble put her stavi down. "Sure does. Have you guys got spoons at all?"

/.../

**1 day later.**

"Pebble?... Pebble?... Pebble!"

Pebble tore her eyes away from the city fast approaching in the sky-cars front window and looked to Teor. "Sorry, got a little distracted, most human cities aren't anywhere near as tall as this city."

"Are you sure you will be alright? The place will be crowded." Pebble glanced back towards the city. "If you don't want to do this I can find another way."

"Look, if this proffessor needs me to prove I'm human so you can do your work on me then what better than to go up and show him some red blood? Besides, I have this little shit to keep me distracted." Pebble reached down to the floor of the car and scratched Russell behind his ear.

"I'm curious Pebble, how come you are so terrified of crowds?"

Pebble looked over to Batha who the Matriarch insisted came along for the trip. "I have my reasons." Batha blinked, understanding the fact Pebble didn't want to say. "Anyway, what is the plan of action?"

"Get in, get the authorisation I need to use your cells for my studies, then we ideally need to get you an omni-tool."

"Sounds like a plan."

/.../

"Why have I got the feeling she wants to stick her finger up my ass?"

Teor released a slight laugh while shaking her head. "She is the top Xenology professor on all of Thessia, of course she wants to stick her finger up the ass of some new and previously unknown species, luckily for you and Russell however the council has placed strict limitations on what we can and can't do with you."

"So anal probing is a thing? I'm sure you once told me you guys don't do that."

"Well, not in my field of work."

"Know never to trust your word again... Anyway what does she need then."

"Well, she has seen you but she needs a DNA sample to confirm you are what you claim to be."

Pebble looked around the professors office. "Does she have any scissors?"

"What? Why?"

"My hair contains DNA, I'll cut a bit off for her."

Teor frowned at the thought, surely that would be painful? But she turned back to the professor anyway and asked in her own language. "She wants a blood sample."

Pebble rolled her eyes. "Fine, got a knife?"

After Teor spoke again, the professor started to rut around her many drawers before producing some sort of spring loaded pin. "She wants you to use this on your finger."

Pebble took the pin and got the sample. "Anything else?"

Teor turned her eyes to Russell who was happily sniffing some skeleton on display in the room. "One more thing."

/.../

**1 week later, Pebble's feeling the effects of eezo**

"Pebble, bed." Teor crossed her arms and stood tall while looking down to Pebble who was sat on her small home's front porch facing out over the seas.

Pebble wrapped a blanket around herself some more while shaking her head side to side, if she stood and tried to walk she felt like she was going to vomit everywhere and she didn't wan't Teor to see that, or she would probably be ordered to spend the next year in bed. "Spent three d-days in bed a-a-already." As she spoke her voice was broken by her extreme shivering.

Teor sighed, Humans really could be stubborn. "Going on like this will only prolong your bodies adjustment to the eezo, if you rest in bed you will be back to normal before you know it." Pebble simply looked at Teor, she didn't believe in the whole bed rest ideology and she had to be active or atleast trying to be active. "How about a hot bath then?" That did sound appealing to Pebble, especially the 'hot' part of it, but it still required standing and moving to the bath. After some thoughtful consideration Pebble nodded, allowing Teor to quickly turn the bath on and return to pester her once more. "You also need to eat to keep up your strength, food?"

Just at the thought of food Pebble nearly vomited in her mouth, but Teor was right, without the energy provided by food her body would never adjust to the eezo. "Something.. l...light."

"Fruit?"

"Why h-have I got a f-f-feeling you already b-rought some?"

Teor smiled before retrieving the fruit and handing it over to Pebble, only for the human to look at it with a grim face. "Well?"

Pebble glanced back up before sighing, looking back down to her food, and then picking up the supplied fork, this was going to be a struggle. After swallowing the first bite a good amount of time later Pebble knew she wasn't going to finish, her stomach was already turning, once she swollwed another bite she had enough, or more accurately her stomach had enough, quickly standing Pebble made her way to the sand at the bottom of her homes porch, knelled and violently expelled all she just ate from her body. As Pebble did her thing Teor made her way over and scanned the humans body with her omni-tool, considering what Pebble was going through, everything seemed to be in order, or at least to Teor it did. "313.2 Kelvin, normal blood PH levels, no major toxins or virals, I wonder what your complaining about."

Pebble shook her head. "313.2 k-kelvin?"

"Yes." With a groan Pebble pushed herself back onto her feet and made her way back into her home, when she worked for Cerberus she was taught that if her body temperature reached 312.4 kelvin to cool down however possible. Getting inside she started to remove her clothes and run a cold tap. Teor followed and watched curiously. "What are you doing?"

"Cool d-d-down, too hot." As she spoke Pebble grabbed a thin bedsheet and put it under the cold tap, allowing it to get soaked thoroughly before removing it and making her way back outside and wrapping it around herself, much to her own discomfort

"How do you mean too hot?"

"B-body temp-perat-ture d-dangerous."

"Oh." Teor activated her omni tool. "I'll call the medics."

"D-d-don-nt bo-th-th-ther."

Teor shook her head before pressing the call button."

/.../

**1 week after being cured.**

"God, that is tight." Teor rolled her eyes as she continued to tighten Pebble's corset. "Remind me why I need to wear this thing again."

"Because there is going to be multiple powerful Matriarchs in attendance and they will want to see that you are at least trying integrate into our society, and what better way to do that than by wearing exactly the same items of clothing as ourselves."

Pebble released the biggest huff she could. "You know, considering you guys are all space age you have some questionable traditions and ideas."

"Could say the same about your species." Teor pulled the corset in one last time before tying the strings in a bow. "Now put this on." Teor handed Pebble a dress to which Pebble raised her brows.

"So what is this event again?"

"A joint home coming home party and thank you event for everyone who helped get me back here." Teor rolled her eyes again as Pebble struggled with the many fastenings on the dress. "You can fight off an evil organisation yet you can barely fasten a dress."

"When your home nation has been at war for most of your life there is very little time for fancy dress parties, or at least for us on the front line." Replied Pebble. "Now help me with this will you?"

Teor approached and helped with the awkward fastening. "I should also give you a word of warning." Teor fastened the dress. "There will be one or two in attendance tonight who will try and take advantage of you." Standing back Teor admired her handy work. "Wow, you scrubbed up well. Anyway keep an eye out for Matriarch T'soni's bondmate especially."

"I'm not sure if that was a slight insult or if I should feel honoured you think so, anyway when you say take advantage, how do you mean?"

Teor approached Pebble and started to turn her around to make sure everything fit well. "Athetya will test your endurance for alcohol, and I know you like your alcohol but trust me, you will not triumph."

Pebble smirked. "We'll see."

Teor jabbed Pebble. "No you won't, ryncol isn't a game for non-krogan or people who don't think they are Krogan. Anyway then you will have the one or two adventurous matrons after mating rights."

Pebble snorted. "What good will that do? I'm a human."

"And we are Asari, our reproduction system is very alien to your own." As Teor spoke she dragged Pebble to a mirror.

At seeing herself Pebble couldn't help but laugh. "This has to be the most fancy I have ever seen myself."

"Well, your not done yet, your untidy hair lets it down. Sit." Teor pointed to a chair while she grabbed a brush Vasir had 3d printed.

"God this corset really is tight." Commented Pebble as she sat.

"You still going on about that? Athame, you should try mine and then you might have a reason to complain."

Pebble looked at Teors body shape as she approached with a brush. "True, now is there anything else I should know tonight?"

Teor started to work on Pebble's hair. "Other than the fact Councillor Sevot will be there, as well as Reale and her bond-mate, no."

"Right, so no weird customs or anything?"

"Just be civilized and you will be fine."

Pebble released a slight chuckle. "Telling a human to be civilized may not be the smartest of moves, after all our idea of civilized is to start as many wars as possible and then when we can't finish them within a few years just to drop a big ol bomb."

"Remember in our books you are Asari, so try to be an Asari. Oh and I just remembered something which you should know, the bartender will have a neural adapter so you shouldn't require someone with an adapter to get you drinks."

/.../

Pebble looked around the unpopulated hall that her evening was going to be spent, the word expensive came to mind. "Don't want to think about how much dough this is going to be costing you guys."

Teor shrugged, her mother could afford it easily enough. "I thought you would understand by now that my mother is not exactly the poorest person in this galaxy."

"Still doesn't change the fact that this must be costing a leg and an arm or two."

"Relatively it is more like this is costing an eyelash."

Pebble cocked her head slightly at the unusual representation. "Anyways, I see the Commando's aren't exactly in party dress."

"There will be multiple high profile figures, Matriarchs and a Councillor in attendance, security is a real issue." Teor stopped at a large round table at the top of the room. "This is where we will be sat, we will also have the Asari Councillor, Matriarch T'soni and family, Matriarch Ja'gurr, and Reale and mate joining us."

"So, other than Reale who of those do I know? And who of those will I be able to speak to?"

Teor clucked her tongue a few times as she tried to remember who had neural adapters. "You basically only know Reale and us, all of them except Reale's mate should have neural adapters, but I doubt you will get much conversation outside ourselves, Reale, Benezzia and mate."

"Are they not the talkative type or?"

Teor hummed and harred a bit. "Well, we expect the councillor is here on business and will more than likely be trying to win over the Matriarchs to vote for her in the upcoming elections, so you will barely see her, and Ja'gurr is a very reserved Asari who only speaks if she has a reason to, think of her more as a monk."

"Okay, so how do these people relate to yourself?"

"Well, the councillor sort of helped get me off your home world, Benezzia is simply a good family friend and ally to our estate, and Ja'gurr is the Matriarch who rallied the other Matriarchs to get you Asari citizenship over what would usually happen with other pre-relay aliens, plus she is also the oldest in attendance at over 1100 years."

Pebble whistled. "That is a good few years to her name, also I suppose I owe her a thanks."

Teor nodded. "Yes, well, just remember if you talk to her she is arguably the most powerful Asari on thessia, not someone you want to upset."

"Duly noted."

/.../

Pebble looked up to see a random Asari after a drink was placed under her nose. "And what exactly have I done to deserve this?"

The Asari pulled a chair out. "I wonder. Now it looks like your having the time of your life."

Pebble raised the drink to her mouth and took a sip, the drink supplied tasted alot like strawberry's, rather odd but quite nice. "Well, thanks. Anyway I believe you know who I am but I'm clueless as to yourself."

The Asari smiled and clenched her fists ever so slightly. "I agree I look considerably different when peach in appearance."

"Oh, well I have to say I believe blue suits you better."

Reale blinked in agreement. "Agreed. Now like I said earlier, it looks like you are having a good time."

"Crowds and all."

"Ah, understandable then. So how you finding life as an Asari?"

Pebble gestured to her body shape. "Uncomfortable, speaking of which it doesn't appear you are subjected to a one of these things."

"I am with child."

"Oh, congratulations." Now Reale mentioned it Pebble noticed the Asari was drinking water. "So I'm guessing with you being here you are no longer doing spectre things?"

"Thank you and yes partially, I have been restricted to oversight and diplomatic missions."

"So pencil pushing."

Reale blinked. "Basically."

"So, how long does an Asari pregnancy last? And how long do you get off once your nearly due?"

"just over 2 years for an Asari of my age, and starting in about a years time I will be given 5 years off."

Pebble give an impressed whistle. "That is a hell of a maternity leave. Are Asari kids handfuls or is your system just that good?"

"Handfuls I'm afraid."

"Unlucky then."

Reale chuckled slightly. "Tell me about it. Anyway how are you doing yourself? You were apparently in a bad state when we found you."

Pebble subconsciously rubbed her new leg. "Fine now, but when I first woke up I was a little sore. How are your own wounds?"

"My bondmate is a medic."

"Lucky you."

"Yes, that does have some advantages when you work in the field that I do."

Pebble looked around the ever filling room. "So are you here with the mate or?"

Reale turned around and looked for her wife. "Yes, and my eldest." After failing to find her family she turned back around to the table. "What about your self? Here with your four legged friend?"

"Russell?"

Reale blinked. "If that is what you call your four legged animal then yes."

"Naa, he would be doing his business all over the place and probably be bored out his mind at the same time, so I've left him in the house to destroy a pillow. And why you ask? You missing him?"

The Asari clenched her fists slightly while rolling her eyes. "My daughter was wanting to meet it, she has heard many stories about it on the intranet."

Pebble gained a mock offended look. "Hey, my shit aint an it."

"Yes Pebble. Now, you got any idea as to when this food is to be served? I'm starving."

Pebble had no idea in the least. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"Hope its soon then."

"Agreed." After Pebble spoke the two sat in silence, each in their own thoughts, but a few moments later Pebble had a question. "Reale, do all Asari live in an estate or belong to a Matriarch?"

Reale sighed. "Not all, just most."

"How come?"

Reale leaned back in her chair. "Some simply don't want to live under the reign of a Matriarch or for some other reason they can't."

"Right, so what is the appeal to live, belong, or whatever you want to call it to a Matriarch?"

"A good few things, living on a Matriarchs estate brings security, jobs, an extended family in your fellow residents, a Matriarch to consult with whenever you need, and then all of the advantages of whatever the estate offers, so for your own that would be good health care, education and of course the fingers of the galaxies most wanted massues's. However it does have it's draw backs too, Matriarchs can implement their own rules on their estate that can restrict your freedom, if the Matriarch pays your wage, then it is often lower than that of a freelancer, but it could be argued that living on the estate compensates that, then you have the fact that if the Matirach makes a mistake it will effect the entire estate, also you have to do everything the Matriarch says or face consequences, and some people will treat you differently just for belonging to a certain Matriarch."

Pebble rubbed her jaw as she thought. "Hmm, so do you belong to a Matriarch?"

"No, however I'm not sure for how much longer, the mate as of recently has started to push for me to join an estate."

"Right, so can you just pick any estate at willy-nilly and expect to join or what?"

Reale clenched her fists. "No, you have to apply and if the Matriarch thinks you have something to add to the estate then you get in, or if you do something special for the Matriarch she may offer you a place regardless, like your own has offered my family a place after this whole fiasco."

"Well, from what I have experienced this estate aint all so bad, anyway when you say add to an estate how do you mean?"

Reale shrugged. "It can be anything, knowledge, skill set, being a spectre, or just being a generally nice person as, it all depends on what the Matriarch deems as useful."

"I see..." Pebble noticed an Asari and slightly shorter one approaching the table. "They with you?" Pebble nodded in the direction of the two Asari.

Reale turned. "Ah yes."

/.../

Pebble poked the food on her plate. "So what exactly is this stuff?"

The food Pebble had been served was an Asari delicacy known as Ranivim, a small squid like animal that was famed galaxy wide for its unusual but rather appetising flavours, texture, and for the fact it moved and looked horrid. Eventually after a few seconds Reale replied "Ravim, a sea creature."

"Is it still alive?" Asked pebble as she watched the thing squirm around on her plate.

"Reflexes to the salt in the food."

Pebble raised her brow slightly as she began to cut the squid like animal and place some on her fork, brining it up to her nose she regretted smelling the thing, after thinking twice about commenting on the smell she put it in her mouth and started to chew. Eventually with a large gulp she swallowed the it whole. "And this is a delicacy?"

"Yes."

"Oh." Pebble didn't know what to do, the food was not appetising at all, in fact if anything it made her retch, but would the others take offence at the fact she wasn't going to eat it? And how much did it cost? She would hate to know her Matriarch paid good money for it to be wasted. "So, lets say I found this horrid, how would the others react?"

Reale shrugged, she wasn't from a posh background and this was the first event of this caliber that she attended. "Not sure."

Teor, who had tuned her neural adapter back to English at noticing the communication between the two eventually pipped up. "Not well, remember the whole integrating into our society thing?"

Pebble looked back to her squirming food, why had she left Russell at home? "How do I excuse my self from the table if needed?"

"Stand, bow and then head."

Pebble sighed, then picking up her fork she stabbed the entire squid like animal and brought it up to her mouth, then once it was down she stood, bowed her head and quickly made her way to the toilet.

/.../

"Come on human, I know you want to at least try it."

Pebble looked up the the Matriarch and then back down to the fluorescent green drink. "Why have I got a feeling I aint going to like this."

"Hey, you don't know till you try kid."

Pebble huffed out before looking to Reale. "Is this stuff going to knock me onto my backside?"

The Asari smirked. "Maybe, all I will say however is that you will have a good time."

Pebble sighed. "What did you say your name was again?"

"Athetya."

Pebble looked around to kill a bit of time before picking up the shot glass. "If I can handle Absinthe I can handle this." Then without delaying it any longer Pebble did the shot and instantly regretted it as it felt like her entire throat was on fire and being cut to shreds by glass at the same time. "Bloody hell, what was that?"

"Ryncol, kid your going to have the time of your life in about 10."

Pebble shook her head and blew out her nose harshly in an attempt to clear the fumes that was still escaping from her stomach. "Teor warned me about that stuff."

The Matriarch shrugged. "I would get you another one, but I doubt you could handle it."

Pebble looked around, no Teor in sight. "If one is the time of my life, what is two?"

The Matriarch chuckled while Reale spoke. "Your funeral."

Pebble didn't know what to do, she wanted to stay half sober so she didn't make an ass of herself, but she also wanted to get trashed equally as much. "I'll give it ten."

"Wise decision."

/.../

**Morning after**

Pebble woke up on an unknown bed and looked around, from the fact the bed was gigantic and Teor was sleeping next to her she guessed that it was the Asari's bed. With a groan she buried her throbbing head back in her pillow. After a short while the Asari released a growl like sound then spoke, "You awake?"

Pebble didn't raise her head from the pillow as she responded to the Asari. "Yeah. Christ, I feel like shit."

"Same, what did we do last night?"

Pebble blacked out nearly immediately after the second ryncol shot. "God knows."

"I can remember upto the shooting range but nothing afterwards."

"We went to the range?" Queried Pebble.

Teor pushed herself over to face Pebble. "You and Reale had a knife throwing competition."

Pebble groaned, weapons and alcohol was always a bad mix. "Didn't kill anyone did I?"

"Can't remember."

Pebble pulled the quilt up so she could look down her body. "No blood is a good sign."

"As is the fact I can't smell vomit."

Pebble sighed. "That too, anyways, why am I in your bed?"

The asari shrugged. "Good question."

"We didn't? did we?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"The joys of being drunk." Teor simply nodded. "Ugh, still wearing this thing too." Pebble prodded her contorted body.

"Stop complaining about that will you? Now is there any water about?"

/.../

**Meanwhile at an undisclosed location**

**"**The human, I want it."

There was a delay as an unknown figure replied to the secretive text message. "It won't be cheap..."

/.../

**With the publication of the next chapter I will also publish Earth!**

**Cheers for reading!**


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